What have I become?
by DeathDealer1997
Summary: "I think you realize it...you're just not comfortable with it yet." She often wondered what Lee would say if he saw her now. Would he be proud? Ashamed? Angry? Would he try to tell her how horrible killing was? That a death should never be celebrated? Well, it hardly mattered now. He wasn't here, so it was up to her to take care of herself and her friends. By any means necessary.
1. Pilot

_**Author's Note: This takes place after Season 2 Episode 3. It bothered me that after my version's Clem telling Luke to shoot Carver without hesitation, and then staying behind to watch him being murdered, everyone was just cool with that. Seriously, they should have been at least a little concerned that there was a potential sociopath in their midst. This will still mostly follow the main storyline so watch for spoilers though, in all honesty, why are you on this website if you're worried about spoilers? If you're worried about that, here's a tip, get off this website, finish the game/movie/book/play/whatever and THEN read fanfictions. Seriously, why does anyone even have to put up a spoiler warning?**_

_**A little insight into this version of Clem: She blames herself for Lee's death and every bad thing that's happened over Season 2 thus far, she has a Messiah Complex towards those she cares about however those who are a threat to her will find no mercy and those who hurt her friends will find a sadistic demon, Lee and Kenny were best friends, she killed the zombie that bit Kenny's girlfriend believing that they could amputate the arm later when things were less dire, Nick is still alive, Kenny is less hostile towards Clem (I felt that, despite Kenny's irrationality and heartbreak, he wouldn't turn against Clementine as quickly as he did in the game), and most relevantly, she is constantly on the edge between being a survivor and a psychopath**_

_**Well, now that I've made an author's note long enough to fill up a chapter, lets finally get started**_

The meeting place, 3 hours and 45 minuets after Carver's death

The tension was thick enough to cut as they walked into the camp; her, Rebecca and Jane. She knew that, whatever had happened before, there would always be a gap between them now. She was fine with that.

"You made it!" Mike exclaimed, "We were getting kinda worried for a second there."

Bonnie kept taking quick glances at Clem, "Did you see any of the others on the road? We still haven't heard from Luke, Nick, Serah and Carlos."

"Carlos is dead." said Clem, deadpan, "Serah probably is too."

"Wha-how? When did you see this?" said Bonnie

"Carlos was shot, then the walkers swarmed all over him. Serah started screaming and crying, I tried telling her to get it together, but then she ran off into the forest. Haven't heard from her since. Like I said, probably dead."

"It hasn't been that long, we should wait awhile for the rest. If they take too long, we can send out a search party."

"Is Kenny and Sarita here? Did you cut her arm off, yet?"

"Cut..her..arm..off...why would we do that?" said Mike, causing Clem's eyes to go wide

"She was bitten, you have to have cut it off or she'll die!" she said, running into the camp without another word

By the time she saw Sarita, she knew it was too late. They didn't cut her arm off.

Kenny was holding her, just staring down at the one who meant most to him and was being taken away with each second. Brushing her hair and saying sweet nothings to keep her happy. His gaze grew darker when he saw her coming

"They sent you to get me moving? A little kid?" he looked up and shouted at the others, "This how you do things now? Sending little girls to do your dirty work!"

"What do you mean?" said Clementine, her eyes never leaving Sarita

"I mean that those shits have been telling me move for the past hour! Like I don-" he was interrupted by Sarita coughing up a little blood, "There there, it's goanna be alright." he smiled at her

"...She's dead...I killed her..."

"I know she's de...wait, what? What do you mean?" he stared at her while she stared at Sarita

"It was my fault. I wasn't fast enough." she said, her voice sounded like she wanted to cry but the rest of her wouldn't cooperate, "I saw her get bitten, we were supposed to cut her hand off later when things were safer but...I was too slow..."

"No, Clem this wasn't your fault, it was mine. I was supposed to be there for her but...we just all got separated and it turned into a huge cluster..." he looked like he was going to go on, but stopped "Just...just leave us alone, would'ya Clem? Find...I dunno, something to keep you busy. I..I have to say my goodbyes."

Clem stared for a few more seconds. "Uh-huh." and with that she walked away without really selecting a specific direction.

She ended up sitting on a bench beside a collapsed wall, staring down at the ground, when she heard two voices behind the wall she had selected as her back-rest

She recognized their voices as Bonnie's and Mike's, and was about to retreat into her thoughts before realizing that_ she_ was the subject of their conversation

"...I just don't think she's..y'know..all there. I mean, little girls don't just go ordering executions and cutting up bodies. It's not natural!" Bonnie

"Look around you, Bonnie, does any of this look natural?" and Mike.

"No, it's more than that...I'm just worried that she's...y'know..."

"You think she's goanna slit your throat while you're sleeping because she held a grudge against Carver?"

"It's not just that. I saw her face going out and good Lord, I felt my blood run cold. She was enjoying it."

"That doesn't make her a threat to you or any of us."

"How can you not see what's going on in that girl's head?"

"Lack of X-Ray vision?"

"Fine, make your little jokes, but when the bodies start piling up I'm not goanna be the one to say 'I told you so.'" she stormed off

Mike sighed and walked in the opposite direction, spotting Clementine as he passed by "Oh...I guess you heard that..."

"She's afraid of me." said Clem

"Well, you have to admit, that stunt you pulled back there was kinda messed up," he said, trying to say it lightheartedly

He mistook her silence as guilt. "Hey, it's not like that. This is just a phase for her, she'll get over it. We'll look back on this and laugh."

"I guess so." she said, and watched Mike walk away

_She's scared of me._

_Good_


	2. Sister

The Meeting Place, 4 hours after Carver's Death

"Ok, we've waited long enough," Bonnie called everyone together. Well, almost everyone; Kenny still sat with Sarita by the fountain. "I think it's time we sent out a search party."

"Wouldn't we still be waiting, then?" Jane cut in, "I say we go. Find a place that's more defensi-"

"No." said Clementine, in a tone that stated there wouldn't be any compromising on this point, "We never leave someone behind."

"Since when? Didn't Rebecca and the others leave Reggie when they escaped the first time?" said Mike

"That's not fair, we didn't have a choice!" Said Rebecca

"I know, that's my point here. Odds are if they aren't here by now, they won't be arriving anytime soon."

"Then we look for them!" said Clem

"Look, I'm not just going to stand here and take orders from a little girl." He said, Clementine glaring as a response

Bonnie cut in, "If they haven't arrived now, they must have run into trouble. All the more reason to send out someone to look."

"I'll go, Clem can come with me." said Jane

"Right behind you."

Jane went on, "Rebecca, if something happens, can you protect yourself?"

Rebecca lifted up the revolver she snagged off Carver's corpse, then nervously looked at Sarita "You don't think I'll need to..."

"I dunno, but never hurts to be careful. Let's go, Clem."

* * *

On the road, 4 hours and 39 minuets after Carver's Death

"Look, I'm gonna level with you," said Jane, after half an hour of walking, "You should know that finding your friends is a shot in the dark."

"I know, but we still have to try."

"Ok, sure, but I also wanted to talk to you about something else. Away from _them." _Clem eyed her suspiciously, "You're clearly smart, and don't exactly hesitate to draw blood, but that uncompromising loyalty of yours is gonna get you killed. This group you're with is falling apart, and to be brutally honest, you're better off without them."

"Bad stuff happens whether you're in a group or not, least with friends you have someone looking out for you."

"Look who you have to watch your back. An unstable one-eyed man, a pregnant lady, and the rest think you're crazy. No offense. They're not going to be any help to you."

"That's no excuse to just leave them!"

"That's the perfect excuse to just leave them. For what it's worth, I like most of the people there, but...well, you know those oxygen masks on airplanes?"

"I've never been on an airplane."

"Oh...well, if there's a crash, some oxygen masks fall out of the ceiling and the flight attendants tell you every time that if someone next to you can't put it on, help yourself _before _helping them. The same principle applies now. One of these days they're going to be in trouble and there will be nothing you can do, and trying to save them will just get yourself dragged down with them. I don't want that to happen."

They came up on a car, and Jane proceeded to search through it

"Then why did you take me with you?"

"I'm just trying to give you the tools you need. Like that ugly jacket, it looks warm but a walker is going to tear right through it." she said, prompting Clementine to remember how stupid she looked in her ugly jacket, "My sister had this leather one, wish I still had it. You could've..." She drifted off.

The mood becoming much heavier, Jane attempted to leave the conversation my focusing on searching the car.

"I could've what?" said Clementine, not realizing Jane's attempt to leave the conversation

"It doesn't matter."

A few seconds hung between them. "There are things I don't like remembering, too."

Jane ignored her, and kept searching the car. Convinced of it's uselessness, they continued walking.

"Y'know, being a big sister was kinda fun. It's real easy to be mean."

"Oh?"

"Hide her toys, make fun of her bad haircut...give her the bad haircut." She seemed like she was finally starting to enjoy the conversation. "I mean, I didn't put the gum there but..."

"I'm glad I didn't have a sister."

"Well that's not all there is. But what could I do, I couldn't let her think we were best friends without being...punished for it." her voice becoming heavy again

She looked ahead and noticed a fortified rest stop, walls all around it with some probably-dead zombies lying on the ground in front of it.

"These guys look fresh, probably have some good stuff. Come on." she ran towards them, screwdriver in hand, while Clem followed.

Jane stabbed one in the head with the screwdriver.

"We should search them." said Clem

"You know why, right? They're fresh, just look at them." She said, walking over to another. "Don't waste your time with old zombies, they were people with money and credit cards, useless stuff. But the newer ones were survivors, people like you and me, carrying only the _useful_ stuff."

Jane stabbed the 2nd one, "Check that one, I'll get this guy."

A rather casual search on Clem's end brought up 2 bullets to a gun they didn't use, and 2 driver's licenses. "I guess we could use the bullets later, maybe." she said, tossing the licenses aside

"So, has your crew always been so dysfunctional?"

"I was with a better one, least I think that group was better. I only remember a few of them, but they were good people."

"What happened to them?"

"Kenny's back at that camp."

"Huh, small world."

"His family is dead, this one named Carley that Lee was friends with was killed, and Lee...Lee died trying to save me."

"Lee was your father?"

"No, he..." she shook her head, "It doesn't matter. There's nothing else on this guy."

Jane showed up a nail-file, "These things are great. You can sharpen a blade, strike a flint, pick a lock if you have a know-how." She put it away.

They walked over to a 3rd walker, Jane stabbed it in the head with a screwdriver.

"These things will jump up at you when you least expect it. _Always_ take them out. Help me push it over."

She did so, to reveal a broken pair of glasses underneath. Clem picked them up right away. "These are Sarah's!"

"I guess she didn't make it, sorry."

"Or, this means that she's nearby and we don't have to look very far."

"Just don't go getting your hopes up." Jane shook her head, "I know you feel like everyone's your responsibility, but..."

She was cut off by screaming nearby. Luke and Sarah.


	3. Loyalty

**_A/N: Just a small request; I've seen a lot of people favoriting and following this series but only 3 reviews so far. As I use reviews to measure my worth as a human being, it'd be nice if all of you people following could just hit that big friendly button that keeps me out of a depression-induced coma? I'd really appreciate it_**

Fortified Rest Stop, 5 hours after Carver's Death

A brief search of the wall around the small fort turned up a hole in the fence, probably how the camp fell in the first place.

And in the hole, impaled on a metal spike, was a zombified Nick reaching out to grab them.

Clementine sighed. "I was too late...again."

"Hey, he wasn't your responsibility." said Jane, lifting up a screwdriver

But while she was readying to stab, Clem had already put an axe in Nick's brain.

"I guess I don't need to give you the 'no hesitation' speech." said Jane

"I've done this before." said Clem, monotone.

"Well, that hatchet of yours seems to get stuck pretty easily. That'll get you killed. Use this instead." She handed her a screwdriver.

Clem looked it over. _Sharp and durable, along with more functions than stabbing. Probably better than most pocket knives._

They pushed Nick's body out of the way and climbed through the hole, immediately taking cover behind a 2 foot high wall. Luke's shouts echoed through the area, sounding like he was trying to push someone into acting. _Sarah must be having some sort of breakdown._

"We need to get a better view of the area, find out where your friends are." said Jane, looking around and spotting a zombie ahead of them, "I got a nice little addition to your arsenal." She hopped over their cover and ran towards it. She kicked it's knee, and while the walker was toppled over, she stabbed her screwdriver into the back of it's head.

Clem walked towards her. "Take out the knee first," said Jane, "Then hit in the back of the head with whatever sharp object is on hand."

"I'll have to remember that." _Can't believe I didn't think of it myself._

Then ran ahead silently, taking cover by the corner of a building. Up ahead they saw a barricade, and beyond that a whole bunch of walkers gathered around a door, Serah's crying and Luke's shouting ringing like a dinner bell

"Idiots." said Clem, "They escape from one prison and just walk right into another."

"Bit harshly put, but true."

Between them and the barricade was one dead zombie, and 2 running stupidly against the barricade toward the buffet

Clem peeked out, stabbing the seemingly-dead zombie (it's sudden growling removing the facade) to make it actually-dead, then the living pair ran up to confront the zombified pair.

Dispatching the slow creatures with ease, they were able to get a better view of the situation.

"That's a lot of walkers." Said Clementine, "We won't be able to casually stroll through them."

"If we could make enough noise to get their attention from here, we should be able to get past them." said Jane, looking around, "Does that car horn still work?"

"I'll check." Clem ran over to it and honked a couple times, drawing the attention of a few dead though their attention was quickly brought back to the constant source of noise ahead of them.

"We're gonna need to make that ring out non-stop."

Clem looked around, her attention falling on their latest victims, "We could use these guys."

"Good idea, let's get to it."

The zombies went toward the far more noisy disturbance like moths to a flame, allowing Clem and Jane to sneak right around them and through the door. Though, not without attracting some unwanted attention. This, combined with the fact that a horn can only sound for so long in the apocalypse, placed the pair in the exact same position as the people they were trying to rescue. Locked in a building with zombies blocking the door outside

Upon entering the building, Luke went to meet them immediately

"Jane! And...Clementine."

"Help me block the door!" Jane interrupted

They pushed a nearby dresser over to keep the door closed.

"Nick tried to find you." said Luke

"I know, he's taken care of." said Clementine

"Taken care of?" said Luke, looking at her, "Oh...I see...God help us all."

"Where's Sarah?" said Clementine

"She's in the back room, but I can't get her to move. She just sits there frozen in place. I try to pick her up but, well, Carver messed me up pretty bad when I got caught back at his camp."

"Clem, do you think you can convince her? You were friends, right?" said Jane

"She thought we were, yes. I guess that should be enough."

"Uhh, no offense but you're not exactly the...comforting sort, Clem." said Luke

"We don't need her comfortable, we need her moving." said Clementine

"I...suppose so. Alright, lets see what we can do."

They walked over to Sarah together, she just sat there with tears running down her eyes and her frozen in place

"A little situational awareness would be helpful." Said Clementine, slightly annoyed

"Hey, she just lost her dad." Luke retorted

"A lot of people have lost their dad."

"Yea, and not everyone became a psychopath because of it."

"Listen!" Jane cut in, "Whatever's going on here, it can wait. Right now we have more pressing issues." said Jane, hearing the front door creaking on its hinges, "This place isn't going to hold, we need to get her to her feet _now."_

"She's right...get to work, Clem."

Clementine knelt down in front of Sarah

"Sarah...it's me." said Clem

"Clem..." Jane interjected briefly, "Some people...you just can't help. Trust me, I've seen it."

Clem ignored her, "Sarah, I need you to listen to me. It's really important."

Sarah looked up at her, then immediately back down. Clem continued, "I hate the fact that I've lost so many people, but now I'm stronger and learned to take care of myself. Now you have to be stronger, because things aren't the way they were. It's all gonna be harder now."

Sarah looked up, then down again. "It's not that easy, Clem...I'm not like you."

"You _can _be, Sarah."

"I...don't know if I want to be..."

She was interrupted by banging and scratching by the windows

"We're cut off!" said Jane, looking around for a new exit, "How about the skylight?"

"If we had something to stand on, sure." said Luke

Jane looked to Clem, "There's no time!"

Clem ignored her, "We can't be kids anymore, Sarah! You need to grow up or you die! There aren't any other choices!"

Sarah looked at her, then back down.

They heard more banging by the door and saw that the zombies had begun breaking pieces of it off, only stopped by their makeshift barricade. Jane ran towards the attackers, wielding a second screwdriver, and shouting back at them "Get to the skylight! Now!"

"I'll boost you up!" Luke said, then remembering his arm, "Nevermind...uhh...Clem, look for something for us to climb on!"

"There's nothing here...what about the barricade? Can we use that?" said Clem, standing up for a moment

"...yeah, I guess we could." said Jane

"Alright, Jane keep the door close. Luke, help me push this!"

They pushed the barricade into the room with Sarah and the skylight, and by then the dead had nothing between them and breakfast other than Jane's screwdriver

Jane ran into the room with them and shut the door, locking it. "Luke, get up. We need you up top." While she gave Luke a boost, Clem went back down to Sarah

"Sarah, it's time to go!" she shouted, Sarah remaining completely still

"Now Clementine!" Jane shouted, "If she doesn't want to leave you can't make her! Don't let her drag you down too..."

Clem glared back at Jane, "Nobody. Gets left. Behind." then looked back Sarah, who was spending her time screaming about how she couldn't do it. "Come on! Dying like this is...it's stupid!"

"You can't save her, Clem." Said Jane, "I know about this..."

Clem looked down, then back at Sarah and gave her one big slap across the face. "Move!"

Sarah, after being forced back into reality, finally moved.


	4. Protector

On the road, 5 hours and 34 minuets after Carver's Death

For almost the entire trip they walked in silence. Sarah, shaken up by the whole thing, lagged behind staring at the ground. Clem would take a look to make sure she was still there every now and then. Jane would look at Clem, with an expression that stated that she wanted to say something but wasn't quite up to it.

It wasn't until they were almost there that someone finally said a word.

"I hate to ask but...are we there yet?" said Luke

Jane chuckled, "Just a little bit up the road, don't worry," having someone else say something seemed to give her the courage to motion Clem over to her

"I dunno about this," she said in a hushed tone, "The way she is, she's goanna cause problems." Clementine didn't need to ask who _she _was

"What happened?"

"What?"

"You were ready to help but then suddenly you're telling me to abandon her. What changed?"

"It's just...I've seen these kinds of things before. I didn't want to stay to the bitter end."

"But I saved her."

"Yea, _this _time. What about next time? And the time after that?" said Jane, "I know this sounds harsh, but just because you got her out of there doesn't mean you saved her. I tried to save Jamie, back then, but she had given up. I think Sarah's given up, too."

"I haven't." said Clementine

Jane looked down again, "You wanna know how my sister died? We had traveled over 4 states, and every morning she said she couldn't do it. So every morning I convinced her, pushed her, slapped her, or carried her if I had to. But one day we were cornered by freaks and forced up to the roof. T-they kept coming and I couldn't make her jump. So...I left her...told her she could have what she wanted, and left her."

"...How could you do that?" said Clem, no malice, just genuine question. Like the thought of leaving someone behind was as foreign to her as the Chinese language.

"I...I don't know," said Jane, "It killed me for the longest time...but eventually, I realized that up till then she'd been on a forced march through hell. She just wanted release and I forced her to keep going."

"Sarah and Jaime aren't the same person!" said Clementine

"People don't change." said Jane, bitterly

"Hey, hate to interrupt," interrupted Luke, "But isn't that the meeting place up ahead?"

The Meeting Place, 5 hours and 40 minuets after Carver's Death

Mike was at the entrance to welcome them

"Well, son of a bitch," he said happily

"I'm pretty amazed myself," said Luke, as Clem and Jane exchanged glances, "If it weren't for these two, both me and Sarah would be walker chow."

Sarah walked off to sit by herself in a corner. Bonnie looked at her, and then at Clem as she went to meet them

"So what happened?" she said, suspiciously

"Me and Sarah were trapped inside a motor inn," said Luke, "Then Clem and Jane hop out of nowhere and pull me out. Thought we'd have to leave Sarah behind, but Clem _insisted _on waiting for her. We'd both be dead if not for these two." he put a hand on both their shoulders

"Don't...get all wishy-washy about it," said Jane, knocking his hand off and walking off

Bonnie pulled Luke aside to talk, until she assumed she was out of Clem's hearing

"So..._Clementine_ saved you?"

"Yea, Bonnie...look, she's not evil just..._odd_."

"A rooster crowing at noon is _odd_, Luke. And you have to forgive me if I'm a bit biased. I mean, the entire time she was at Howe's she didn't say a single word to me. Not even when I gave her the cool jacket! All she did was...glare at me. The first time I hear her speak, she's volunteering to stay behind to watch a bloodbath!"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to talk about people behind their backs." Said Clementine from behind them, startling them

"I gotta go..." said Luke, making a hasty retreat leaving Bonnie to face her

"Well didn't anyone tell you it's rude to listen in on people's conversations." said Bonnie, meeting her gaze

"One person. He's dead now."

"Is that a threat?" said Bonnie, a challenging tone in her voice

"No. A warning. I don't trust you and I _will_ kill you if you're a threat to any of these people." Said Clementine, retaining her ominous monotone

"_You _don't trust _me?_ I'm not the one ordering executions here!"

"No, you just sit by and let them happen for awhile. But then _you're sorry_, so everything's alright."

"Hey, I helped you stop him-"

"You sat by and let him run a dictatorship, then the second things get a bit tough you bail and join the most convenient group," said Clementine, "and we have no guarantee that you won't bail on us when we run into trouble."

"Wha-_I _won't leave you. None of you!"

"A lot of people told me that before. They were all liars."

"And let me guess, you killed them?" said Bonnie, bitterness on her tongue

Clementine had a surprise for her. She looked down. "In a way, yes." she said, sorrowfully, knocking Bonnie off her mental balance

"Well...just...I gotta go take care of Rebecca!" said Bonnie, making a hasty retreat and leaving Clementine to her thoughts

_I killed them._

_I killed Sarita, Nick, Carlos and Alvin when I stopped Kenny from shooting at the ski lodge._

_I killed Omid when I just left my gun lying around for that bitch to pick up and shoot him with_

_I killed Pete when I got distracted and didn't watch out for walkers_

_And Lee...I killed Lee by being a stupid little girl who couldn't just stay put. If I was just smarter then..._

She looked up and at all the people that were with her now. Her gaze finally resting on Sarah

_Lee would have protected you...except he's not here_

_But don't worry, Sarah, because _I am _here, and _I _won't let anything happen to you. I'll kill anyone who puts you in danger_

_It's what Lee would have done_


	5. Grief

_**A/N: So I remember about a week ago asking for people to review more often. And holy crap, if I knew I could warp reality with a simple wish, I would have abused that long ago. In all seriousness, thanks to those who reviewed, it's really satisfying to know that I'm not the only one who likes reading this.**_

The Meeting Place, 5 hours and 48 minuets since Carver's Death

She hadn't sat there long before Luke came and stood next to her

"Hey...Clem." he said warily, understandable after the mixed signals her behavior sent off

"Hey." she replied, in her usual monotone

"I...broke the news about Nick. I made sure she knew there was nothing anyone could have done."

"How do you know that?"

"Because...I don't care what Bonnie thinks, there is no way you would let someone die when you could have saved them," he gave her what was probably intended to be a warm smile, but his obvious discomfort made it look more awkward than anything else, "Anyway, that's not what I came over here for. I just wanted to ask...uhm...well, do you know anything about babies?"

"No...how would I know anything about that? I'm eleven."

"Right, stupid question," he shook his head, "Well, we have a problem. Rebecca's baby is goanna be here, soon. Very, very soon and nobody here has the slightest hint of how to deliver it."

"Kenny would probably know. Where is he?"

Luke looked over at a tent near them. "He...took Sarita in there not long after you left...I don't know if he's done it yet. I don't think he's doing well..."

"I've seen him like this before...he doesn't handle loss well." said Clementine, reflectively

"I...was wondering if you could talk to him. According to witness accounts, you're the only one he didn't shout and rave at for trying to get two words out of him."

"He still didn't want to talk to me."

"I know, and I wouldn't ask you to do it but...that baby takes priority here," said Luke, "I'm ok with him mourning, but he needs to save his attention for the living before he takes care of the dead."

"Yea, he probably should." she sighed, and went toward the tent

He was just sitting there, staring at Sarita's body lying on the ground in front of him.

Clementine remained silent as she entered. One thing Lee told her the last time Kenny was like this was that you should never _start _a conversation with someone who's grieving, always let them have the first word, set the mood at something they're comfortable with.

So they remained silent, letting it sit there for a few moments, before Kenny finally had the first word

"She didn't want me to wait...but I had to." he said, covering his face, "Just...just in case she didn't come back? That beautiful face..."

"She was a good person," said Clementine, "She didn't deserve this."

"Do you know what it's like to be beaten, almost to death?" Kenny looked up, not at her, just up, "Peaceful. When Carver was beating the shit out of me, I was at peace for the first time in...God knows how long...it was like I was drifting away...then I woke up, and I'm still taken a beating. Every day." She let him continue, "Duck. Katja. Sarita. No peace on this Earth. No rest. Punches just keep coming. Why didn't Carver just finish me off? Obviously, I can't help anyone here."

"Because you _can _help someone, here." said Clementine, "Right now, Rebecca is having a baby. They need you're help. There's no one else here who can do it."

"Yea...I guess you're right. Can't rest as long as there's someone who needs you, that's what my old man would say. Lee told you that, too, right?"

"He lived by it."

"Well, I'd better not disappoint him," said Kenny, "He'd make every second in heaven a living hell if he knew I've been sitting on my ass while I let his little girl take all the risks..."

He looked down at Sarita, then stood up to go outside, Clementine followed

Right when they left the tent, they saw everyone gathered around Rebecca.

"Shit, does that mean what I think it does!" Luke shouted, "What are we supposed to do?"

They got closer and joined the crowd

"Is that supposed to happen," said Mike, "How does it feel?"

"It feels wet!" said Rebecca,

"What's wrong?" said Clementine

"Rebecca's water broke." said Bonnie

Christ, fuck, and oh god became the popular words among the crowd surrounding them

"Is that supposed to happen?" said Clementine

"Kenny...what do we do?"

Kenny stood there for a second, looking down. Working up the strength to pick up the responsibility that was set down in front of him. "Alright...just let me think..."

"We don't have much choice now, we need to lock her up somewhere safe. Those freaks out there will hear her, probably even smell her." said Jane, one of the three people remaining calm in this

"This place definitely doesn't seem safe for a baby to be born." said Clementine

"That map showed a couple of buildings nearby, maybe one of them could do the trick." said Mike

"The museum seems like a good start, I'll go." said Bonnie

"Good idea, Clementine can go with you." said Luke

"No I...think it'd be better for Mike to go. There might be some heavy lifting there." said Bonnie

"Alright, sure." said Mike

"I'll check buildings by the river front." said Jane

"Alright then," said Luke, "Kenny, you stay with Rebecca, do whatever you have to do. I'll keep the perimeter clear of walkers. Sarah...you just stay here with Rebecca and Kenny."

"Hey Clem," said Mike, "You should probably go with Jane. You two seem to work we-"

"Mike, you coming!" Bonnie called from the exit

"Sure," Mike called back, "Well, cya." he said then followed Bonnie

"Remember, we're looking for clean blankets, water, and disinfectant." Kenny called after them

"I'll go with Jane, after I check on Sarah."

"Alright, everyone knows what to do. Let's be fast, and be careful." said Luke

With the meeting broken up, everyone having left to do their various jobs, Clem went over to talk to Sarah as planned

"Hey Sarah," said Clementine, "Y'know, Rebecca's starting to-"

"They were going to leave me, weren't they?" Sarah cut her off

"...Yes."

"...How come...you didn't?"

"Because Lee wouldn't have."

Sarah began crying, "I just want my dad..."

"I know the feeling." said Clem, sympathetically

"When he...when he gets here, we should all go back to the Cabin! We're safe there..."

"Sarah...your dad is dead. You need to move on if you want to survive."

Sarah looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown, when Rebecca interjected

"Clem, I think that's all she can take for now." she said

"The others could use some help scouting for supplies." said Kenny

"I'll go help Jane," said Clementine, her eyes never leaving Sarah

"Good, you'd better hurry if you want to catch up."


	6. Ruthlessness

Along the river front, 6 hours after Carver's Death

It didn't take long for her to find Jane. 1 minuet of running led her to the Visitor's Center, Jane sitting on a bench in front, apparently waiting for her.

Clem walked up to her, and Jane turned her head "Oh hey."

"Are...you okay?" said Clementine

"Yeah...yeah," said Jane, shaking her head like she was trying to recover from a massive hangover, "It's just, alot's happened today and I don't know if..."

She trailed off, and they both looked down

"Well...a wise person once told me, it's sometimes good to have someone watching your back." said Jane, cheering up, "So...come on, partner, lets check out that deck."

They walked over to the visitor's center, toward the stairs leading to a some sort of viewing deck.

"Have you found anything, yet?" said Clementine

"Oh, uh..no, not yet. I hadn't really started looking...I hope this place is what we're looking for, God knows we could use a break."

They climbed up onto the viewing deck, there they saw two large doors. One was open, leading to absolutely nothing. The other was shut tight by some shudders

"Check this out," said Jane, gesturing to a lock on the shudders, "This is still locked, meaning that most likely nobody's looted it. We should find something inside. If nothing else, this place looks secure enough for Rebecca to have that kid."

"Can you pick the lock with your nail file?"

"Well...I did say you'd need the know-how, but I can try..." she got down and clumsily messed around with it, "Y'know, I think a heavier hand will be needed. Try to find some other way."

Clem started looking around

She looked at an old civil war poster, "'Oh when will it end, this cruel, cruel war?'" she read aloud, "I'll tell you when I find out." She then moved on to a canon that was on the deck, "You think this thing still works?"

Jane chuckled, "Check the muzzle, Napoleon."

Clem looked inside, "Oh."

"They fill them with cement so they're safe."

"I hate irony." Clem shook her head

She moved onto one of the telescopes, and looked through

"I think there's some buildings across the river, maybe a church."

"The nearest river crossing is miles up."

"Well, couldn't we swim across?" Looking to the side, to see some guy walking toward them

"In this cold? No way." said Jane, oblivious

"Jane...there's someone coming."

They hid behind some cover provided by the gate for the deck

"Shit..." said Jane, "He's coming this way, no doubt. And he might have friends nearby."

"Can we fight him? He's walking with a limp." said Clementine

"Could be risky," said Jane, "But we should definitely scope him out, I don't like some stranger so close to our camp. He might go to his friends too, and I don't want him talking about what easy targets we are."

"I'll distract him, you can sneak behind him and kill him." said Clementine

"Uhh, I say we hold off on the killing for now," said Jane, "Not for morality's sake, mind you. He could be more useful alive if he's friendly, or he could lead us to some food."

"Still a good plan for you to take him from behind."

"Yea, OK." Jane ran toward the open door, while Clem went behind the canon

The limping man walked right past her and started rummaging through the garbage can. Clem stood up, "Hey."

The limping man panicked and pulled out a gun, pointing it right at her with a terrified look on her face

_Wow, either this guy has a phobia of non-threatening little girls or I've grown horns_

She looked at the gun in his hands. _Still, a kitten would be dangerous if it had one of those. _"I'm just a kid! Please, don't hurt me!" she said as innocently as she could

After he didn't respond, and his hand kept shaking, she became a little worried, "Do...you understand me?"

"...Yes." said the limping man, his hand still shaking. "I am Arvo. I'm going to go, I don't want to shoot." He continued, oblivious to Jane's form approaching behind him. "I don't want to shoot anyone, especially," he said something in Russian, then backtracked, "Ehh, little girl."

Clementine just grinned as Jane swiftly took the gun out of his weak grip. He didn't even manage to pull the trigger.

"Back off." she said, pointing the gun at Arvo's terrified face.

His terror quickly turned to anger as Jane made the demand that he put the bag down

Clem went down to search the bag, ignoring Arvo's glare

"Woah..."

"What is it?" said Jane, looking down

"He has medicine..._lots _of medicine."

"No no no no no no," pleaded Arvo, "Take anything, but not the medicine! It's for my sister."

"You're lying." said Clementine

"No, it's true!" said Arvo, "I'm not lying. She's in the woods."

"Sister or not, we could really use that stuff." said Jane

"You are not nice people," said Arvo, in a way that almost made Clementine laugh, "You already disarm me, and now you take my sister's medicine?" then he started spouting more Russian

"Hey, we have people who are suffering, who need this medicine!" said Jane, "Luke's still a wreck after Carver's, Kenny's a mess, and Rebeca's in pain!"

"My people are suffering just as much as yours! You are not special!" said Arvo, "Clementine, you understand?"

"I understand that my friends could die without it, one of which is pregnant," said Clementine, "Even if your sister is in pain, which I still doubt, I care more about my friends than I do about yours."

Arvo glared at them, "You will wish you hadn't done this."

Jane grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against a railing

He began begging for his life, while Jane made threats that if he ever came back he would regret it

"Kill him." Said Clementine, Jane glanced back at her

"Are...you sure about that?"

"No! Please don't!" said Arvo, "You are little girl, you don't want to do this!"

"Shut up, Arvo," said Clementine, "If he really has friends, he could lead them to us. Any threats we make now won't mean anything when he's surrounded by friends with guns."

"But...Clementine..." said Jane, solemnly

"No! Please! I tell no one!" he kept shouting

"If you won't do it, then just give _me _the gun."

"No...I'll do it. You shouldn't have to..."

Jane pressed the barrel of the gun into his temple, hesitated a bit, then pushed him off the deck. He hit the ground with a hard thud

She sighed and put the gun away, "I can't believe I've gotten into this." She sounded like she was about to cry, out of disgust, "Killing some kid over supplies, like some common bandit..."

"We had to." said Clementine, keeping her ever persistent monotone

"How can you be so calm?"

"Because right now, my friends are safe."

"Right...they're safe now..." She looked back down at Arvo, "Go get those meds to the others...I'm going to get this place open."

"What about when Arvo comes back?" said Clem, "You didn't shoot him in the head."

"I'll deal with it then! Just...go!" said Jane, sharply enough for Clem to get the message. She left to go back to their camp

After she'd climbed down and started heading to the camp, she saw Luke walking her way.

"Clem, hey! You and Jane had any luck with that observation deck!" he called as he approached, "I was just talking to Rebecca and Kenny, they said they hadn't heard from you in awhile." He said, with a child-like obliviousness

"The deck is safe, a good place for Rebecca to have the baby once Jane's opened it," said Clem, "Just be careful around the ground, we had to kill someone but Jane didn't shoot him in the head."

"Wait, rewind...you killed someone?"

"He had friends, he would have told them and brought them to us. Then Sarah, Rebecca, and the rest of us would all be dead. So, he had to die." said Clementine

"You sound so...matter-of-factly. Like...you just pulled a weed."

Clementine made a face like she'd just been struck, then quickly returned to her blank stare. "Yea...whatever. I need to check on everyone at the camp."

"Wait, before you go...I wanna know, what do you think of Jane? I mean, you've talked with her more than everyone in this camp combined," said Luke

"I like her. She's honest, and knows what she's doing."

"Yea, I can see that. She seems like the type to be tempered by hardship, like you. But then I look at Kenny...and after all the people he's lost, he just looks broken. And broken people get reckless."

"Are _you _any better?" said Clementine, defensively

"Woah, I was just saying..."

"Well say it to someone else." said Clementine, "I need to tell the others about the deck."

"Yea, sure...I'll see you then..."

They parted ways, Clem toward the camp, and Luke in the opposite direction

_You sound so...matter-of-factly. Like...you just pulled a weed._


	7. History

The Meeting Place, 6 hours and 30 minuets after Carver's Death

When she returned, Sarah hadn't moved an inch from where she was sitting. On the other side of the area, Rebecca was leaning against a wall with Kenny sitting on the fountain.

"I'm not supposed to be in labor yet," said Rebecca, "What if somethings wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, babies know how to be born," said Kenny

Rebecca looked up when she saw Clem approaching

"Clementine."

"What'd you find?" said Kenny

"The building out back has an observation deck." said Clementine

"Somewhere to have the baby?" said Rebecca

"It's high up, so yea. It should be safe."

"Sounds good," said Kenny, "We'll go as soon as Mike and Bonnie get back."

"How are you feeling?" said Clem

Rebecca looked down, "Scared, and it hurts."

"That's typically how births go." said Kenny

Rebecca sighed, "I wish Alvin was here."

"Everything he did was for you and the baby. Back at Carver's office, he stayed behind to stop the people from chasing us. He died to keep us safe."

Reb sighed again, "Of course he would do something like that..." said Rebecca, "I know it's not the time, but I can't stop thinking about things I should have said to him...he should be here to raise his child."

"We'll all be here to help," said Clem

"You're a good kid, Clementine," said Rebecca, "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Then another wave of pain hit her and she fell back against the wall, Kenny moved to support her

"Don't worry, I got this." he said, "We ain't seen Mike or Bonnie in awhile, maybe you should go check on them."

"They won't be happy to see me." said Clementine

"Well I don't live for their happiness."

Clem was about to head out, then stopped, "I almost forgot, here." she said, handing Kenny the pain killers, "Is it safe for Rebecca to take?"

Kenny looked at the details on the bottle, "It'll make her comfortable, at least." he handed it to Rebecca

"Clementine, you are my favorite person. Ever. Of all time." Rebecca said gratefully, downing a couple pills

On her way out, Clementine stopped by where Sarah was. She greeted her, but only got a dark look back. She decided it probably wasn't the best time to talk and headed out

The Civil War Museum, 6 hours and 56 minuets after Carver's Death

A couple dead zombies littered the graveyard in front of the museum. Clementine checked each of them with a trusty screwdriver to the head as taught, and was on her way checking the last one when Bonnie came out.

"I think we got em...mind sating your bloodlust on the walking ones?"

"Just checking, Bonnie." said Clementine, slightly annoyed

"Right." said Bonnie, unconvinced

Mike walked out to join them

"What's up? I thought you'd gone with Jane?" said Mike

"I did. And we found some medicine and a safe place for the birth."

"Great." said Bonnie, unenthusiastically, "Well, we're doing fine here. You can head on back now."

"We won't be here much longer, wait about ten minuets and we can all head back together." said Mike

"But Mike, I thought I told you-"

"Quit trying to turn everything into a fight, Bonnie." said Mike

"It makes sense for all of us to head back together," said Clem, "It's getting dark."

"Fine!" said Bonnie, walking back inside

"Don't worry about her," said Mike

"I don't."

They all walked back inside, Mike moved over to a box and started looking through it while Bonnie searched one corner of the museum.

"Keep one eye on the woods," Bonnie called out, "I don't want anything creeping out of the woods."

"I'll watch one side, you watch the other." said Mike

"Deal."

Clem looked at one of the water coolers, and tried to turn it on. No water. "Guess that would have been optimistic." said Clem to herself. She then stopped by one of the displays, an old miniature set of one of the forts. "Lee would have loved this place." she said with a sigh

Then, finally, she found something useful

"Hey, I found an old trench coat," she called out

"I suppose we could use it as a blanket." said Bonnie, walking over

"How did you miss this?" said Clemetine, "It was just lying on the ground."

"Because...because..." said Bonnie, looking for an excuse

"What were you doing the entire time you've been here?" said Clem

"Searching!" said Bonnie

"Chatting my ear off." said Mike

"Tha-that is...so...not true! Wait, were you even listening the entire ti-"

"No, I wasn't. I was too busy_ doing my job_ to hear your complaints and worries."

"Well maybe if you listened, you would learn a thing or two!"

"Shut up, Bonnie." said Clementine, "Your track record is already bad and we have plenty of mouths to feed, so make yourself useful."

"Now you lis-"

"You were right about this coat," said Clementine, cutting her off and holding up the confederate trench coat, "This would make a good blanket for Rebecca."

Mike looked at it, "Well yea, but...isn't grey the uhh..." they both looked at him, "We can't put Rebecca in a confederate coat."

"Oh, right, I really need to get my priorities strait." said Bonnie, rolling her eyes

"It'll keep her warm, Mike, that's good enough." Clementine

"Yea, I guess so..." he walked off, defeated

Clementine moved to the ticket booth, and tried the door. Locked, because everything always was. Failing that, she looked over at the shutters. She tried opening it, but it ended up getting jammed about half a foot up (or a or a 10th of a meter, for all you not-dumb Americans)

She looked through the small opening, and saw water on the other side. A couple containers of it. "Come look at this!"

Bonnie and Mike came over and looked through

"Water!" said Bonnie, "Bottled and clean, that's just what we need!"

"Yea, but I tried the door earlier, it was locked." said Mike

"Same here." said Clementine

Bonnie looked at the opening, "Y'know...someone small could probably fit through there." she looked at Clementine, challengingly, "It'd be a great help."

"Or, we could _not _be stupid, and just kick the door down." said Clementine

"Well, that'd make a lot of noise, now wouldn't it?" said Bonnie

"No more than your shouting earlier, and that didn't draw anyone."

"I'll give it a shot." said Mike, walking over to the door

Upon the first kick, they heard a zombie waking up on the other side and snarling at them, trying to get through under the shutters

"Well, good thing you didn't crawl through." said Mike, "That would have been a stupid way to die."

"Yea, good thing." said Clem, looking at Bonnie

"Just...get that door open!" said Bonnie

The second the door came down, the museum employee came through snarling. Clem brought it down with a screwdriver to the knee, then another one to the back of the head

"I'll keep watching the forests," said Bonnie, walking away

Clem and Mike walked in to see two huge containers of water

Mike picked one up with ease, while Clementine was met with a reminder that she was in a little girl's body when trying to lift the other container

"Don't worry, I got it." said Mike, picking up the other water container with his free hand. They walked out of the booth

"That...looks pretty heavy." said Clem

"It ain't shit," Mike said reassuringly, "Man, it's been awhile since I've seen this much water. Carver may have been crazy, but at least his shelves were always full."

"We'll just have to ration smartly." said Clem

"We'll have to be conservative as hell, that's for sure," said Mike, "With that baby on the way, it'll be hard for all of us. Especially Rebecca. between you and me, she's not looking too good."

He was interrupted by Bonnie's whispered yell, "Hey guys!" she called them over

They crouched behind a wooden wall to witness a racoon sitting by the door

"It just walked right in like it owned the place, figured it'd make a nice meal."

"Are racoons safe to eat?" said Clem

"I'd eat the shit out of that racoon," Mike said greedily

Awkward silence

"Not re-I- I just mean I'd be really happy to eat that racoon."

"Fresh meat would be good for Rebecca."

The racoon spotted them, and made a weird sound that probably should have been threatening and ran

"After it!" said Mike, running strait towards it's hiding place

Bonnie tried cornering it, while Clem ran to stand by the exit

It ran past Mike and Bonnie, and started charging toward Clem

Clem kicked the racoon as it ran past, the speed at which it moved adding to the damage done, it flew for a bit then landed against one of the exhibits. Clem ran up to it and stabbed it near the leg with the trusty screwdriver

"Nice!" said Mike, as the three of them surrounded it

The racoon, still alive after the stab, started calling out, and they heard some rustling behind them

Mike pulled out his gun, expecting a walker, only to be met with two baby racoons

The two kids stared at them, and called out to their mother, who was trying to limp towards them

"Does...anyone else suddenly feel bad about eating?" said Mike

"Maybe we should just let it go..." said Bonnie, "What do you think, Clem?"

Clem looked at the mother racoon, then at the children, an analytical look on her face, "If we tied down the mother and made it look like we weren't here, those two would come towards it. Me and Bonnie will block the exits, Mike charges towards them, and boom. We have three racoons for the price of one." she looked up at them, feeling satisfied with her plan

"...So let me get this strait, you want to use a mother's cries to draw out her children so we could eat the entire family." said Bonnie

"We need the meat," said Clementine, defensively

"But that's just sick! You don't eat baby animals!"

"You're turning down a huge meal because of that? Stop being so senti-"

"Woah hey! The meat is getting away!" said Mike

They looked at the mother racoon to see she had manged to limp all the way to the door and round a corner

They ran around, just in time to watch it run into a hole in the building's wall, probably its nest

They looked inside the nest and couldn't see a trace of it

"I take it back, I am perfectly OK with eating racoon." said Mike

_**A/N: This, children, is what we call a filler-episode, it's when a chapter or segment of a series has absolutely nothing happen in it while the audience sits back bored out of their mind. I apologize.**_


	8. Failure

_**A/N: and here is my apology! A second chapter the same day to make up for the boring previous one. (I know this does nothing to consolidate the people of the future but...I hate the future, how come you guys don't bring us back jetpacks with your awesome time machines?)**_

The Meeting Place, 7 hours and 23 minuets after Carver's Death

"You're telling me your arms ain't tired?" said Bonnie, as they approached

"Nope! I could do this all day." said Mike, cheerfully, holding both the containers of water

Their attention was drawn by Rebecca's screaming

"Shit, shit! Oh God..." she shouted as the trio ran over to her

"Breath like I told you." said Kenny

Sarah, who had graduated from sitting in the same place to standing at a different place, looked to the treeline in reaction to the loud zombie-like noises that were coming from it. She began having another mental breakdown. "Cle-Cle-Cle-Clementine!"

"Great, they must have been attracted by Rebecca." said Bonnie

"How did they get this close without anyone seeing them? Where the hell's Luke?" said Mike

"Kenny," said Clem, "We need to move Rebecca to the observatory."

Kenny looked down, then got up and marched toward the horde "You just keep that baby safe," he said darkly, holding his crowbar

"Clementine," said Rebecca, "Where's the observatory?"

"I'll show you," said Clementine

Bonnie helped Rebecca stand, and they moved to follow Clem

"Mike, make sure Kenny doesn't get overwhelmed!" she turned to Sarah without waiting for his response, "Sarah, follow us. It's time to go!"

Sarah nodded, meekly

Mike ran towards Kenny and the horde, while Clem, Sarah, Rebecca and Bonnie made their exit

On their way out, Bonnie looked back at Kenny, making a face when he began savagely beating a walker in the face

"I don't think he's alright..." she said

"He's protecting us!" said Clem

"Yea, sure..."

They kept walking. Mike smashed one last zombie in the face with his hammer, then turned to Kenny, "C'mon, it's time to go!"

They followed the group

The Observatory, 7 hours and 30 minuets after Carver's Death

They approached the building, the horde following eagerly, and Clementine ran up the stairs

There, she found Jane and Luke, cuddling inside talking about something of extreme unimportance

Upon noticing her, they became very awkward very fast. "Jesus, Clementine!" said Luke, embarrassed, "When did you..."

"What...the hell...are you doing here?" said Clementine, angrily

"Nothing, it's just..."

Bonnie and Rebecca walked by Clementine and into the room, followed by Kenny

"What the fuck are you two doing?!" he shouted

"Jesus, Kenny, what's going on?" said Luke

"We've got God knows how many zombies out there, thanks for keeping an eye out!" he walked by them angrily

"Wha-hold on!" said Luke, defensively, "Someone just tell me what's going on!"

"Luke, shut up!" said Clementine, moving to assist Rebecca

Rebecca gave a loud scream, and Luke finally figured everything out, "Oh man, I'm so sorry..."

Bonnie and Clem helped Rebecca lie down. Outside, Mike shouted that their pursuers were now up the stairs

"Here, I'll-" said Luke, walking toward Rebecca

"You wanna help, keep those things off of us," said Kenny, "In fact, same goes for everyone who's never delivered a baby."

They ran outside, Clem grabbed a pistol from Luke, and then placed herself in between Sarah and the gate while freaks tried to break through it

Her, and the rest of the shooters, opened fire on them

"We don't have enough bullets for this!" shouted Jane

The gate began to buckle on its hinges, and they abandoned shooting to just holding the gate shut

"Find something to block this with!" shouted Mike

"The canon!" shouted Clementine, running to push the canon on its wheels

"I'll help, I'm coming!" Luke ran to aid her

Then, while rolling the canon towards the gate, it broke through the wooden board it was standing on, taking the boards surrounding and the gate with it. Everyone stepped back a few paces

Then, one of the support lines for the balcony broke and half of the walkway collapsed. Jane almost fell, but managed to hang on by Luke's arm

That didn't concern Clem though, not as much as where Sarah was. Trapped underneath some boards, with the dead all around her

"Clementine, pull me up!" shouted Jane

"I have to save Sarah!" Clem shouted back

"There's no way she's coming back from that! Pull me up!"

"I can't let her die! Please, you have to try!" Clem looked to Jane, desperately

Jane looked down, made an annoyed sound, then dropped

Clementine used her pistol to cover, along with Bonnie and Mike, while Jane tried to lift the boards keeping Sarah down

No matter how hard she pulled though, Jane simply wasn't strong enough to lift the entire thing. "Sarah, you have to crawl out!"

Sarah kept twisting and screaming for help, "Sarah, please, you have to trust Jane!" Clem called down

Right after she said it, however, a plank of wood fell and knocked Jane right on the head

She fell back, and the dead closed in on Sarah

"NO!" Clem screamed, and was about to jump down,

"Luke, grab her!" Jane shouted up while recovering

Luke wrapped his arms around Clem and pulled her back, while Sarah screamed out for Clementine

Jane took one last look at Sarah, the dead right on top of her, and ran up a path of wooden planks leading up the observatory

Clementine bit Luke's arm to make him let go, and then ran towards the edge again, this time stopped by Mike and Jane.

"Clementine! Clementine, please! Help me! CLEMENTINE!" Sarah shouted, as a walker took a bite right out of her shoulder

Clementine pushed against Mike and Jane, she crawled underneath their arms and was just hanging off the edge with the combined strength of Mike, Jane, and Luke holding her back. She had a perfect view as the dead descended on Sarah.

Clementine went limp and stared helplessly, until the trio pulled her back inside

"I'm so sorry, Clementine...there was nothing I could do..." said Jane, placing a hand on Clementine's shoulder

Clem hardly heard her. She didn't hear anything. She walked backwards and into a wall, the slid down to sit. She stared strait ahead with the same shocked expression, dead to everything around her. All she could hear was Sarah's dying screams

Over, and over, and over


	9. Sorry

The Observatory, 11 hours and 55 minuets since Carver's Death

Clementine didn't move until she heard a baby's cries. She looked up from her petrified state, finally reawakening herself to the world

It looked like the others had completely destroyed the deck, and had all gone to sleep inside

"Hey, Clementine." said Rebecca, happily holding her newborn babe

Clem didn't say anything, and just watched Rebecca saying sweet things to the child.

Rebecca coughed a bit, "I'm fine, I'm fine...just cold." she said,

"Clem," said Mike, waking up, "Why don't you give her that coat we found?"

Clem got up, and weakly marched toward the confederate trench coat to bring it to her. Her limbs working on their own

"Sorry, about the color," said Mike

"You really think I care about that?"

Clem dropped the coat next to her

"Do you wanna hold him?" said Rebecca

Clem shook her head

"It's really ok, we're family." Rebecca insisted

Clem shook her head again

"What's the matter, Clementine? Afraid of babies?" said Kenny, cheerfully

"She doesn't have to, her decision." said Rebecca

"Fair enough. Here, let me take him." he reached down and Rebecca passed him to Kenny

Kenny held the child and comfortably as if it were his own. "You should both rest."

"When was the last time you slept, Kenny?"

"Oh, bout two years ago, I'm fine." said Kenny, and talked to the baby, "But someone's gotta watch you while mama gets her beauty sleep."

He walked off with the child, and Rebecca lied back, looking at Clementine worriedly

"Clementine, are you alright? You look like you're in another world." Clementine shrugged, "Clem...about Sarah...you did everything you could..." another shrug, "You know you can talk to me, right? We're family." another shrug

"Alright..." said Rebecca, defeated, "I'll be here...if you need me."

Clem got up and walked out to the deck, looking down at Sarah.

She had reanimated, of course. With chunks missing from her shoulder and arm, though it didn't stop her from reaching up once she saw Clem. Though it went against her logic, Clementine could have sworn she heard Sarah saying her name...those eyes, that used to be full of such childlike innocence, now empty. With something else in them...desperation, perhaps.

She didn't know how long she stood there, watching, before she was snapped out of it by Jane opening the shutters or the exit

"Clementine...I have to go..."

Clementine just stared back at her

"...C'mon, Clem, you knew this was coming," said Jane, "Jamie, and now Sarah...I'm not going to...watch that happen to you, too. You're a smart kid...but give it enough time, and everyone's luck runs out."

She started walking towards the staircase. "Remember, when the shit hits the fan...you can make it on your own. Don't let them drag you down with them. You don't owe them anything."

She turned back, and handed her the nail file. Clem watched herself take it and put in her pocket

"I...really wish you would say something." said Jane, "C'mon...just say something. That you understand, or at the least call me a bitch."

There was silence

"Well...I guess this is-"

"Why did you stop me?" said Clementine, suddenly

"Clem..."

"I could have saved her! I could have gone down to help, but you told Luke to hold me back! Why?" said Clem

"You couldn't have done anything, Clem! You would have just died with her!"

"I could have tried!"

"You would have died."

Clem looked down, and Jane turned her back and left.

Clementine sat down and watched her leave, then kept staring at the door, even when Luke came up behind her and leaned on the railing

"Hey, thought you'd be asleep by now..." he said, solemnly, "Are you ok?" he met silence, "I guess we all got something on our mind...It's getting colder, I think at first light, Jane and I should go exploring and find someplace warm for us to hold up in."

"Right...Jane and you..." said Clementine, bitterly

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" said Luke, defensively

Clem kept her monotone, "Maybe we'd _all _die this time, that would just be great for Jane and you, wouldn't it? Nobody left to let down, that way."

"Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"Yea...you're _sorry_...you're really _sorry_," said Clementine, bitterly, "Well, I'm _sorry_ to tell you, but Jane left. She said she's _sorry _to do this, she's _sorry _that she's letting everyone down." she looked at Luke, rage in her eyes, "_Sorry!"_

"Wha-Jane left? She didn't say anything about it to me!" he paced over to the wall, and slammed his fist against it, "Damn it!"

Kenny walked around the corner, child in hand, glaring at him

"Hey, kid, mind keeping it down?" said Kenny

"Sorry...sorry..." he said, trying his best to ignore Clem's soul-piercing stare, "It's just...Jane left."

"Really, Luke? Of all the childish bullshit!" said Kenny

"Childish? God dammit Kenny, just...lay off!"

"No! You put our lives, this baby's life, at risk so you two could roll around like stupid teenagers!"

"Look...I made a mistake, alright? I'm sorry..."

The worst thing he could have said

Clem got up and pushed Luke, almost knocking him off the ledge

"Jesus Christ, Clem!" He shouted, barely managing to keep his balance, "W-what the hell?!"

In response, Clem pointed to Sarah

"What is i-" he stopped after following Clem's finger

"Say it." Clementine ordered, "Just you say it."

"What's going on out here!" Mike and Bonnie ran out

"It's nothing." Kenny said to them, "Just head back inside."

"Nothing my hide," said Bonnie, "What are you doing to him, Clem?"

"Clem..." said Luke, looking back at her, "I'm so-"

"Don't look at _me. _You don't have anything to say to _me._" she told him, "Look at _her, _and then say that you're _sorry."_

He stared at Sarah, "I-I can't..."

"You will."

"I _can't!"_

"You _will!"_

"Clementine, you're torturing the poor kid!" said Bonnie, "He's messed up, he knows it, this isn't necessary."

"Nobody is moving an inch," said Clementine, still pointing at Sarah, "Until he tells _her _that he's _sorry!"_

"...Sarah..." he stared down at her, "I'm so, so...so...I'm..." he froze up

"That's enough." Bonnie came forward and pulled Luke away from the edge, "I know you like to pretend you're some...dark defender watching out for people, but you're not. Right now, you're the one tormenting someone you've already broken!"

"Gee, I'm _sorry_, Bonnie," said Clem, "I really am, just ask Luke. He knows all about being _sorry._"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, "He ain't worth it, Clem." said Kenny, "What happened, then, never happens again, got me?" he said to Luke, "This baby takes priority, so get your shit together! Right now, we gotta find someplace safe to raise him, which ain't here. Our best place is north, to Wellington."

"Fine," said Clem, "There's a town across the river, it might be safe there, at the very least it's a place we can scavenge for supplies. As we are, we won't have enough."

"Kenny..." said Rebecca, reaching out

"Oh...I'm sorry," he said, handing her back the child

"Clementine...is probably right," said Bonnie, making a face like saying it hurt, "That could be a whole town's worth of supplies."

"It's safer than here, definitely," said Kenny, "We leave at first light."

"Woah, are you crazy?" said Luke, "Rebecca needs rest! A few days, at least!"

"Shut up, Luke," said Clem, "We need to get there as soon as possible, and it's not even that far, Rebecca can probably find the strength."

"I'll make it, don't worry," said Rebecca

Luke sighed, "But-"

"If you don't like it, stay here with Sarah." said Clementine. That shut him up

"Guys, can we all just chill out?" said Mike, "It's been a long day. I say we all just get some sleep while we can."

Kenny went to lean against a wall, Bonnie and Mike went back to their original sleeping places, and Luke went over to Rebecca. He looked up once, at Clementine, trying to look angry at her for siding against him

Her rage swiftly overpowered his, and he looked back down in shame

She kept standing by the edge, looking down at Sarah.

_Arvo isn't here_

She didn't know what made her think of that, but she did.

_Jane must have forgotten to finish him when he came back. I wonder if he stuck around...I wonder if he ate her..._

_..._

_..._

_...Why aren't I crying?_


	10. Natasha

_**A/N: Ok, am I the only one who is extremely surprised at how little time had passed between Carver's and Sarah's deaths? I mean, I knew time passed slower than we think, but damn, less than a day? How slowly is this Earth turning? Somebody give it a kick.  
**_

15 hours after Carver's Death

They had left at first light, just as planned.

By high noon, they had covered almost 20 miles without passing a single crossing across the river

The trip had been rather uneventful, especially compared to yesterday. Kenny and Luke at the front of the group, Luke armed with a rifle. Rebecca in the middle of the group, armed with a baby. Clementine noticed that Bonnie was doing her best to stay between her and Luke, like she'd savage him at a moment's notice. _Chill out, Bonnie. I'm not stupid enough to kill him in front of all of you. _And Mike was watching the back.

All-in-all, a boring march.

Rebecca tripped, almost falling down. Bonnie bent over to help her up. "You alright?"

"She's exhausted," said Luke, looking to Kenny, "We all are."

"I...can keep going," said Rebecca, standing up

A few more steps later

"We shoulda stayed put," said Luke, "We shoulda stayed put till she got better."

"She wasn't going to get no better back there," said Kenny, "We need to get her someplace warm."

"This look like someplace warm to you?"

"Would it be any warmer if we'd waited?" said Clementine

"Well, we coulda gone South," said Luke, "We still can! We can just turn right around."

"That ain't an option," said Kenny, "Hurry up, we gotta make it to that town before nightfall."

"You don't even listen to anyone! You just stand around barking orders!"

"I'm doing what I've always done, keeping people alive."

"Luke, just shut up." said Clementine

Rebecca tripped, again, this time falling to the ground

"Alright, Rebecca needs to sit down," said Mike, "We can keep going in a minuet."

"Alright," said Kenny, "Rebecca, let me take the baby."

"It's alright..." said Rebecca weakly

"You need to rest-"

"Back off!" said Luke, "She said she didn't want you to, don't be weird about it!"

"Luke, silence is a valid option," said Clementine, "If you don't have anything important to say, don't say anything at all. Kenny's been a dad before, have you been a dad before?"

"That's not what I'm concerned about." said Luke

_"Hello!"_

A voice in the distance rang towards them, they saw a blond haired girl walking towards them

"...who's this?" said Mike

The woman started speaking Russian

_Russian!_

"Oh God...please be a coincidence." said Clementine

"What's wrong?" said Kenny

"Me and Jane met a Russian guy on the observatory deck, before everyone else showed up."

"Think they're related?" said Mike

"Not many Russians in the area." said Kenny

"I didn't trust him, and I don't trust anyone with him." said Clementine

"We'll be on our guard." said Luke

The blond-haired Russian came closer to them. "Hello, my name is Natasha."

"What's going on here, friend," said Kenny, holding his pistol beneath his back, "Got people with you?"

Natasha looked at them all. Her eyes rested on Clementine, and narrowed. "Little brown girl with ugly sweater...is your name...Clementine?"

"I asked you first." said Kenny, "You're not out here alone, are you?"

Natasha gestured to the trees, and some burly men with automatic rifles came out

"You were armed, so we were going to let you pass," she said, "Except you we know, _Clementine."_

"How do you know?" said Clementine

"Arvo lived...at least, he lived long enough...to tell of little brown girl...named _Clementine!" _she said angrily

"Clementine..." said Bonnie, worriedly, "What did you do?"

Clementine looked down, then stared Natasha strait in the eye, "Arvo had medicine, medicine that Rebecca needed, so we took it. Then, Arvo threatened revenge, so I threw him off the balcony."

"...You've killed us." said Bonnie

Natasha looked like she was about to cry, but held back, "No...I hate you, Clementine...but we don't kill people unless we have to...not even demons like you!" she shouted, "Just drop your guns, so we can take your things. Then...you can leave."

"No. You aren't taking anything." said Clementine

"I wasn't asking."

"Neither was I."

Natasha took a step toward her, and Kenny pointed his pistol at her. "Take one more step."

Suddenly, everyone had a gun pointed at someone.

"This could be easy..." said Natasha

"Don't worry, it still is." said Clementine

Then, one of her burly friends said something

"Drop your weapons, and this will all end ok." said Natasha

_I need them to hesitate, make them think twice about shooting. Little girl won't work on her...come one, think Clementine...what will knock them off balance..._

"We have a baby!" she shouted

As if on cue, the child coughed, drawing all their attention

"You have a baby?" Natasha looked at the little one, then shouted something Russian to her burly friends, who took a few steps forward to check

From there, it was chaos. Her group was shouting at the Russians, Russians were shouting at the group and at each other

_Alright...they're hesitating now, but for how long? I need to take advantage of this...what was that sound?_

She listened more closely, and was sure. The dead were among them. But where?

She followed the sound with her eyes to...Rebecca, lying hunched over the child

_She's turned.__  
_

Rebecca started sitting up, the life gone from her eyes and replaced with that desperation she saw in Sarah's

Without hesitation, she aimed

The first shot fired, several dozen came after it


	11. Risk

15 hours and 17 minuets after Carver's Death

Most of the battle was a blur. Somehow she'd fallen down, or maybe she was pushed? She didn't remember.

She looked up, saw Natasha lying on the ground trying to crawl into the trees with a wounded leg. Mike walked into her vision too, he looked wounded. Someone shouted for him, she didn't see who. Then she saw Luke, ducked behind some stone bricks, shooting at something. She followed the bullets and saw one of their attackers, crawling backwards while trying to shoot; how he was still alive, she had no idea. Kenny was taking cover behind a tree, shooting at someone taking cover behind some rocks.

And finally, she saw the baby.

From there, she didn't know why, but she started crawling towards it. Bullets wrung over her, Luke called for her to take cover behind his rock wall.

She told herself to go behind the wall, but her body ignored the command and ran towards the child. Picking it up then sprinting it away to safety.

She took the child behind a rock wall, near Luke's. "Shit, I didn't even see him out there!" he said, "Good work."

"Shut up and make yourself useful," she replied coldly

"Right...right ok," he peeked his head up to fire but swiftly dropped when the guy behind the rock fired on him, "Damn it...we need to do something about this guy!"

"Then do something!"

"Alright...I'll just get over to that side! Cover me, alright! Just...shoot in his general direction, give him something to think about."

"Ok, I'll do that." _Probably._

Clem peeked over the wall and took a shot while Luke ran across. Unfortunately, Luke overlooked the shotgun man when forming his perfect plan, who proceeded to put one in his leg. He fell, and would have died then if Clem didn't shoot the burly Russian in the head before he could get a second shot off

"Where'd you learn to run? The baby could have gone faster!" said Clementine

"I know, I need to work out!" he retorted, before looking more closely at his leg, "Alright...hurts a ton but...think it went strait through...I think..." he then started muttering words of self-encouragement and Clem blocked him out to get to the task at hand

Clementine looked up to fire, and saw Kenny run from his cover to grab Natasha, forcing her to her feet and pressing his pistol to her temple. He started shouting at the burly man behind the rock. "Get out here, or I put a bullet in her skull!"

Clementine trained her sights on the rock, ready to shoot the second he came out.

"Leave her alone, Kenny!" Bonnie shouted, "She's just a kid!"

_Just a kid who tried to kill all of us_

"No! I'm ending this before anyone else gets shot!" he screamed back at her

He and the burly Russian behind the rock (who Clementine had named "Rocky" for easy designation) kept shouting at each other. Natasha looked terrified for a moment, then when she saw Clementine, she made a huge lunge toward her. Knocking herself out of Kenny's hold and leaving him defenseless

Kenny dropped to the ground, making himself as hard a target as possible, while Natasha jumped over the rock wall, tackling Clem. Clementine fired, the bullet going right by Natasha's ear. Natasha's strength weakened, probably due to all the bells that must be wringing in her head after that, and Clem was able to throw her off, hitting her in the head with the butt of the gun.

Finally, Rocky came away from his rock to shoot Kenny, then he immediately fell down. Clem looked past him to see Jane standing behind him, having stabbed him in the back of the neck.

With Rocky finally dead, a strange silence fell over the scene with nobody shooting anymore. Just the baby's cries.

Bonnie walked over and picked the child off the ground from where he landed after Natasha's tackle, while Kenny gave them the all-clear

Clem got out from behind her rock and looked at Jane. A dozen different titles that she could associate with her came to mind. In the end, the loudest title rang through, _Sarah's Killer__  
_

"Jesus Christ," said Luke, "That was...uh...that was intense."

"Man, I thought that was it..." said Mike

"Yea, well it was for these assholes." said Kenny

Clementine ignored them, and stood in front of Jane. No words. Jane kept staring at Rocky

"I didn't know this man," said Jane, "Never killed someone who hadn't wronged me. That didn't deserve it."

"Except for Sarah."

"What?" Jane looked up at her, "No...please, you can't blame me for that..." she said pleadingly

"Not just you," said Clementine, "A lot of people share some blame, mostly me...but you have some."

"Clementine, I did all I could..."

"You stopped me from doing all I could."

"You would have died!"

"It wasn't your call!"

"Hey!" Bonnie shouted at them, "A little...a little respect for the dead..."

Clementine noticed her and all the rest gathered around Rebecca's body, she looked at Jane "Leave or stay, I don't care. Just don't talk to me." Then she joined the other mourners, and after a moment's hesitation, Jane followed

The group looked down on Rebecca's lifeless body, hunched over with her arms positioned just right for holding a child, like it was still there

"How...did this happen?" said Mike

"She died, and came back," said Clementine, "I had to shoot her."

"You were sure?" said Bonnie, "You were sure she was dead?"

"Yes, Bonnie," said Luke, "I saw it. She was dead, no doubt about it. Clem saved the boy's life."

Bonnie sighed, "I suppose she did."

"This ain't your fault," Luke said to Clem, anticipating her next words, "This ain't nobody's fault, she just lost too much blood..."

_The worst part is, I don't give a damn_

"She's with Alvin now," she said the hollow words

"Yea..." said Luke

"No...we all know who's fault this was," said Kenny, clenching his fist. He turned towards Natasha, machine gun in hand he walked up to her and pressed the barrel against her temple

"Hey, hey!" Bonnie shouted after him

Natasha looked up at him defiantly, "Girl, give me one good reason not to blow your brains out," said Kenny, matching her glare

"Kenny, put it down!" Mike and Luke ran to Natasha's defense, pushing Kenny away and standing inbetween them

"She's not a threat to us!" said Luke

"How can you say that? After what her crew just did to Rebecca, you should be doing this! Not me!"

Clementine looked around at Natasha's dead friends, _3 people. Originally four. These two looked pretty well fed..._

"Don't Kenny," she said, "Not yet."

"And why the hell not, Clem?" said Kenny, angrily

"They have a house, or a base of some sort, not far from here." she said, looking up, "In this weather, you don't want to travel far from home. There, judging by how much meat her friends have on them, we'll find enough food to make us the rest of the trip." She looked at Natasha, "So, what do you say, dead girl? Buy yourself some time?"

Natasha stared at her for a long time, "Ya...I'll take you."

"Why should we trust you?" said Kenny

"Trust or don't trust her, it's worth the risk," said Jane, "We need the food or we won't last a week out here,"

"You stay out of this!" Kenny shouted at her, "You're the reason these fuckers attacked us in the first place!"

"No, it's because I killed her brother," said Clementine

"Think about the baby, Kenny!" said Bonnie, "We need to take a chance on this, or he won't make it."

Kenny's gaze dropped, and he holstered his gun, "We got something to tie her up?"

"Yea, I got something." Said Bonnie

Bonnie handed the baby off to Mike while she set about tying Natasha's hands

"Just follow me." said Natasha

"Just give me a reason," said Kenny, pushing her forward

They hadn't been walking for more than 10 seconds before Jane matched her pace to Clem's, "Hey."

Clem turned her head away

"It's alright, you don't have to reply, I just want you to know...I'm sorry I couldn't save her. You were counting on me to do it and...I couldn't, but I will do _everything _I can to make that up to you, and I promise, I will never abandon you people again."

"So what, you want a cookie? You want a cookie for doing the right thing?" said Clementine, mockingly

"I...I'm just not leaving this time," said Jane, "If that gets me a cookie then...awesome, but either way I'm going to pay you back for-"

"You don't have to be pointing the gun at her the whole time?" said Mike shouted at Kenny

"Are you kidding, after what she just put us through?" said Kenny

"She's not going anywhere, Kenny," said Bonnie

"Don't be stupid, Bonnie, of course she's going to try to escape. That's the only reason she said yes, so she could get a chance to escape and kill us all in the attempt." said Clementine

"Wait...what does that mean?" said Luke

"I mean that's the risk," said Clementine, "She gets a chance to have revenge, and we get a chance to have food. Only one of us can get what we want, so either we get food or she gets revenge. Isn't that right, Natasha?"

"Screw that!" said Kenny, "I ain't given her the chance!"

"You don't have a choice, Kenny. Without the food we might get, we'll die for sure. If we want to keep our lives, we _have_ to risk them."


	12. Guilt

15 hours and 45 minuets after Carver's Death

During their forced march, Mike had handed the baby off to Bonnie so he could help Luke walk on his injured leg

They had gone about a half hour in silence, until that silence was broken by Luke falling

"We need to stop!" Bonnie called after Kenny

"No, no it's alright!" said Luke, getting up hastily, "I just need a second..."

"Alright," said Kenny, turning to Natasha, "You wait right there." Natasha kept walking, "Hey! What'd I say?" he said, walking after her

He grabbed her by the back of the head and pushed her to the ground, "When I say stop, you stop!" he shouted at her

"Kenny, come on! There's no need for that!" said Mike

"She tried to escape, granted it was the most lousy attempt of all time," said Clementine

"You're the one who said she would," said Bonnie

"Doesn't mean we can just let her try," said Clem, "Besides, you think she would treat you any better if the roles were reversed?"

"She still deserves to be treated like a human being!" said Mike

"She deserves a bullet, that's what she deserves!" said Kenny

"Kenny, what she deserves doesn't matter, we're resting." said Bonnie

Kenny looked down at Natasha, "You just stay put."

Luke sat down by a tree, Bonnie and Mike stood around him

"I'm goanna have a word with Kenny, he doesn't need to treat her that way," said Mike, "Kid's been through a enough."

"Here, take the baby." said Bonnie, handing it off to him

Mike walked off toward Kenny while Bonnie sat next to Luke. Clementine leaned against a tree, nearby. Bonnie looked up at her, then started talking to Luke in what she assumed was a tone Clem couldn't here

"She knew Kenny before meeting you all, right?" said Bonnie, "If so, that'd explain quite a few things about her..."

"If Kenny had that much of an impact, I think she'd have mentioned him," said Luke, "No, all she talked about was a man named Lee."

"Lee?"

"Well, the story she told, her parents went to Savanah and left her with a babysitter. Babysitter died and a guy named Lee found her, cared for her, taught her to survive. A good man the way she put it, heck the way she talked you'd swear he was Christ reborn."

"What happened to him?"

"I got stupid," Clementine cut in, "Somebody told me he knew my parents and I followed him without a second thought. I almost died, but Lee saved me...he died instead." she shook her head, "Not a fair trade."

"What did this Lee teach you?" said Bonnie, suspiciously

Clem glared at her, "He was a _good man_, Bonnie...too good."

Luke looked at Kenny and Mike, who had been joined by Jane, "Looks like it took a woman to talk some sense into them, Jane broke it up right quick."

Bonnie stood up, "Keep pressure on that, I'll fetch some bandages." she said to Luke before running off

Luke looked down at his shot leg, "How did we get here?"

"We walked."

"I mean, how am I the last one?" he said, "There were seven of us at that cabin, and now they're all dead. Pete, Alvin, Carlos, Nick, Rebecca, Sarah...they're all gone, but I'm still here..."

"You know what, Luke?" said Clementine, "I don't care. Yea, they're all dead, and you couldn't have saved any of them, except for one."

"I know...Sarah..."

"Everyone else may have forgotten, but I haven't. You and Jane; her blood is on your hands'."

"Clem...no, her blood is on _my _hands, no one else!"

"She stopped me-"

"From killing yourself, I know! But you know what else she did that nobody else did? She tried! All the rest of us just sat back and watched, but she actually went down there! Blame me, but leave her out of it!"

"But she-"

"But she nothing! She knew that going down there could have killed her but she did it anyway! She did everything she could have to save that poor girl! Who else here can claim the same?"

Clem looked down, "I..."

"I brought the bandages," Bonnie came forward with the wrappings, "What'd I miss?"

"It's...it's nothing." said Luke

"Hey...Clem," said Bonnie, "You should...probably go change the bandages on Kenny's eye. He won't let me..." she handed her some hydrogen peroxide, "That'll sting...but it's gotta get done."

Clem walked away as fast as she could

_He's wrong...she could have done more! She could have tried harder!_

_...Right? ...She must have been able to..._

She made her way over to Kenny, avoiding eye contact with Jane as she did it.

When she reached Kenny, holding the baby, he started talking. "I was thinking we go with Alvin Junior." he said, obviously referring to the baby

"Yea, that's...creative."

"It's not about being witty," said Kenny, "It's about honoring a good man, and giving him someone to look up to." he looked down at the newly dubbed 'AJ', "What'ya think of that, little guy? Oh, I think he approves." he looked at the hydrogen peroxide in her hand, "What ya got there?"

"Mind if I change your bandage?"

Kenny sighed, "You shouldn't have to do stuff like this."

"I shouldn't have to do a lot of things."

He sighed again, "Alright, lets get this over with."

Clem knelt in front of him, and slowly lifted up his eye-patch. "So...how's it look?"

"...I'm glad Carver's dead."

"Well, we saw to that."

Clem poured some of the peroxide on a rag, "This...this is goanna suck."

"You coulda lied a little, y'know."

One little touch of the rag and Kenny immediately recoiled, "Holy fucking hell!"

"Stop squirming."

"Yea...yea, alright..."

The second time was more successful, with him being more prepared. He talked to AJ to distract himself this time, "Sorry bout the language, junior...you'll be tough as nails when you grow up, I suppose."

"I think he can hear a few bad words, I've heard plenty." dabbing his eye some more

"Yea...that shouldn't have been the case," he sighed, "You were right about giving myself up, back at the ski lodge. Can't believe I almost sacrificed Alvin just for one more shot at that bastard...we should have escaped sooner, we may have gotten him out...I'm goanna remember that every time I look at little junior here."

"Maybe if I'd let you shoot, you'd have hit him, and nobody would have died."

"You gotta stop doin that, Clementine," said Kenny, "You can't hold all the world's troubles, nobody's got that big of shoulders."

Finally, with the wound treated, Clem was able to wrap the bandage around his head, "Thanks, sweat pea."

Bonnie walked up to them, "Are we ready to go?"

On their way out, Clem couldn't stop stealing glances at Jane

_She could have saved her...she has to have been able to save her, she has to be guilty!_

_...right?_


	13. Peace

19 hours after Carver's Death

A few hours later, they were reminded of how short days got in winter by the setting sun. Dusk was upon them

They came into view of an old power plant

"Is that it?" said Kenny, to no response, "Natasha! Is that it?" he said louder

"What?" she looked up from the ground, a vacant expression, "It?"

"Remember? The place you're taking us? The place with food?" said Clementine

"Answer her, god dammit!" said Kenny

Natasha glared at Clem, "No. It's a house. Several hours from here."

Kenny shook his head, "I knew it! It's not even real! This bitch is leading us on a wild goose chase!"

Bonnie looked at the power plant, "We should rest here for tonight."

"This is bullshit!" said Kenny

"Relax." Jane replied

"Don't tell me to relax!"

"Not helping, you guys," said Clementine, looking over the power plant, "Bonnie's probably right, we should rest here if it's safe."

"That's a big 'if'" said Kenny

"The fence would keep the walkers out, the gate looks rusty meaning it'll be noisy to open so living can't sneak up on us, and those big...power thingies would block wind," said Clem

"Huh...maybe..." said Kenny

"Guys," Mike interjected, "After all we've been through, we _need_ a calm, quiet night. This seems like a good place for it."

"That sounds good to me." said Bonnie

"Alright," said Kenny, "I'll scout it out, make sure we aren't walking into a zombie nest."

"I'll come with you," said Jane

"Here," said Kenny, handing AJ off to Clementine, "Wouldn't be right to take a baby out on a scouting mission."

The second AJ was in Clem's arms, he started crying. _You aren't exactly pleasant to be around, either._

With Kenny and Jane already gone, Clem looked to Mike and Luke for guidance

"Nope, that's all you." said Mike, him and Luke with their stupid, smug faces. _Assholes._

Clem looked back down at AJ. "Alvin...don't be whiny jerk." He shut up_. Huh...can't believe that worked...we might just get along after all_

"Here, let me take him," said Bonnie, coming up. _If only adults were so easy..._

"All yours," said Clem, handing him off to her.

As Bonnie took him, Kenny and Jane returned, giving them a short nod

21 hours after Carver's Death

Night came as suddenly as the dusk. By then, they'd have gotten Natasha tied to one of the towers, and a fire for them all to sit around.

Clem looked over her group, all sitting around the fire. No shouting. No fighting. Everyone, just enjoying the silence. Well, except for Jane, who stood in the dark. Separate from the group. _She killed Sarah...you don't have to worry about what she's doing..._

She also looked at Natasha, who just sat there glaring at her. Clem gave a quick glare back then turned back to the fire

"Today's my birthday," said Luke, suddenly, "Near as I can tell, at least."

"Well, happy birthday." said Bonnie

"Yea, happy birthday, man."

"How can you even tell?" said Clem

"Been counting the days...y'know, a few times I didn't think I'd see my next birthday."

"Well, you did it." said Kenny, happily

"Yea, guess that's worth celebrating." said Luke

"So that makes you...what, 27?" said Bonnie

"Yea! Surprised you remembered...sure as hell _feel _a lot older."

"Don't even start with that shit!" Kenny said lightheartedly

_This is right. This is the way it should be. No more shouting. Everyone just getting along...why can't it be like this all the time? Why can't people just let stuff go? Why can't anyone... _she looked at Jane _...forgive._

"I got outta college about five years ago...feels like a million years," he chuckled, "Least I don't have to worry about paying student loans."

"I hear ya." said Mike

"What did you study?" said Clem

"Majored in art history," he said, the humor of it not escaping him

"Sounds...cool."

"Sounds like you majored working in a coffee shop." said Kenny

"Pretty much," Luke chuckled, "Oh, and a minor in agriculture! Keep the old man happy."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" said Bonnie, reaching into her pack, she pulled out a bottle of rum, "I was saving it for a special occasion. Figured this was as good a time as any."

Clementine looked at it. "I've...never had rum before..."

_"No!" _said Kenny

Clementine exhaled sharply

Luke held the bottle in his hand, "Feeling a little guilty, taken the first..."

"Woah, wait!" said Bonnie, "You've gotta make a toast."

Luke chuckled, "Not really the type..."

"It ain't gotta be fancy." said Bonnie

"A toast means we've _all_ got something to drink." said Mike

"Oh, we'll just pass the bottle along afterward." said Bonnie

Luke looked down at the bottle for a second, then held it up, "To the loved ones we've lost along the way, and to the hope that we see them again. Someday."

_Really, Luke?_ Clem looked at Kenny, who'd cast his gaze downward. _Kenny's not that stable, who knows how he'll take a reminder._

"Hear hear." said Mike

"That was nice," said Bonnie

"Yea? Didn't mean for it to rhyme but..."

"Well, I've got first watch." said Kenny, standing up. _You couldn't have toasted to butterflies or rainbows?_

"I think the fence is pretty secure." said Mike

"Can't be too careful."

"I can take it," said Clem. _I need time to think, anyway_

"Nah, you stay warm." said Kenny, "I'll post over by that hole in the fence...holler if you need anything."

He walked off into the dark

Bonnie looked over to Jane, "Fire's real nice! Plenty of room if you want to keep warm!"

Jane looked over for a second, then faced back to the dark, "Maybe in a bit!"

Bonnie shook her head, "I...didn't expect her to come back. Just when I think I've got her figured out, she up and surprises."

"Good thing she did," said Mike

"Yea, she saved all our asses. That puts her ok in my book."

"It ain't no secret how you feel about her," said Bonnie. Luke gave a reproachful look, "Oh come on, I'm just teasen."

"It was stupid," he said sadly. _You were stupid_

"I understand, she's a pretty girl," said Bonnie, "Once you get past all the dirt and guts."

"I guess...I dunno, just wanted to forget about all this shit for about 10 minuets."

"10 minuets!" said Mike, "Man, that's longer than I'd last."

"Hey, impressionable child present." said Luke, gesturing to Clem

"Sorry." said Mike

"I know what you're talking about..." said Clem

"Well, I sure hope not!" said Luke

"...Y'know, kissing stuff..."

One awkward pause later

"Yes! That...is..._exactly_ what we're talking about...kissing!" said Luke

Bonnie shook her head, "Christ...you're just a kid..." she said solemnly

They sat in silence, then for once it was Clem of broke it."Hey...if...if someone lets you down...I mean, lets you down in a _big _way but...they tried their best not to, does that mean you should forgive them?"

"I think you should, Clem." said Mike

"World would be a lot better if people did," said Bonnie

Clem looked down for a second, then stood up and walked toward Jane

Jane looked at Clem over her shoulder, then kept staring strait ahead

"Hey..." said Jane

"Hi..." said Clem, "I'm...I'm sorry for blaming you, it wasn't your fault. You tried."

Jane looked at her, shock written all over her face, "You're..._you're _sorry? But, I'm the one who..."

"You tried to help her, you tried as hard as you could," said Clem, "It's not fair to blame you. It wasn't you're fault she fell but you tried to help her anyway." she looked at Luke and glared, "He's the one who put her there."

"No, Clem..." said Jane, "He didn't know what would happen..."

"He knew that if we were ambushed by a horde, we wouldn't stand a chance. He knew someone would have died," said Clem, "He's just unlucky that it was Sarah, and not me." she shook her head, "But that's not the point, I came here to apologize."

"Well...I'm glad to be back in your good graces," said Jane, "And I promise, I won't let you down again.

"You never did." Clem smiled at her

Jane looked at the campfire, "Is there any rum left?"

"Should be."

"Good, cause I do not feel like sitting in the dark right now," she looked at Clem, "Coming?"

"In a minuet," said Clem, turning her gaze to Kenny, "There's someone else I need to check on."

Jane looked at him too, "Try to convince him to come to the fire...if anyone needs a drink, it's that guy." with that, she walked toward the light.

AJ started crying when she approached, "Shh, there there..." Kenny rocked the baby softly

"Hey..." Clem opened up

"Hey, Clem." said Kenny

"How's AJ?"

"He's just cranky. A little sleep and he'll be right as rain," Kenny looked up at the stars, "Man, it's a beautiful night...I just needed some air."

"There's air everywhere," said Clem, sitting down next to him

Kenny sighed, "I'm sorry about how I've been acting lately...ever since Sarita...it's been so hard to remember that there's good things in this world. I haven't been fair, to AJ or to you..."

"Kenny, it's alright..."

"No, it's not." said Kenny, "I'm supposed to be an example, but instead I've just been breaking down..."

"Stop."

Kenny looked down, "I just...I miss my boy. I miss him so much. I didn't raise him right, made mistakes, wasn't there for a few years off on a boat or some other...I thought I'd enjoyed that time away from em...my family...I'd give anything for one. More. Second. With them...just to play catch with Duck, to stroke Katja's cheek...anything in the world."

"We'll see them all again, someday." said Clementine

"I'm goanna try and believe that too," he looked up, "And, while I'm here, I'm goanna raise AJ right. I won't make the same mistakes again, that's a promise."

He looked over to Clem, "You should head to the fire, it's cold out here."

"Only if you come, too." said Clem, standing up

"Geez...I dunno...

"Come on, nobody should be alone."

Kenny looked down, then stood up with her. They walked to the light together

They were already laughing about something when they came in

"Jane, you don't have to dignify that with a response." said Bonnie

"Nah, it's best to get this stuff out in the open," said Mike, they laughed again

"Well, that's fine, but I can assure you there was no time for kissing." said Jane, prompting Luke to blush

"Alright, enough of that," said Bonnie when she saw them coming, "Keep the little ones clean."

"It's fine," said Clem as she and Kenny took their seats, "It's good to hear people laughing."

"Yea...you spend so much time trying to stay alive," Luke shook his head, "You don't get a chance to enjoy living."

"Yea," said Bonnie, "We need to make more time for that."

"Alcohol helps." said Mike, making everyone laugh

"So, Clem...if you don't mind my asking...who was Lee?" said Bonnie, "I mean...you told me he was a good guy but...I just wanna know more about him."

Clem looked down

"Hey, you don't have to answer that..." said Jane

"It's fine," said Clem, "When he found me...I was a scared little girl, all alone during the apocalypse. He found me...and without a second thought, he took me under his wing. Kept me safe, showed me how to survive, taught me right from wrong..." she trailed off

Kenny picked it up from there, "Yea, he was a hell of a guy. Always knew _just _how much ground to give to keep people together, but always stuck to what he knew was the right thing to do."

"You were there?" said Jane

"I had the privilege," said Kenny, "When his friends needed him, he always found some way to be there...it was incredibly, really. I don't know how he lasted, being so good..."

"He didn't last." said Clementine

Kenny looked at her, then down, "I just meant..."

Clem stood up abruptly and started for the fence

"Clem, wait..."

"Just let her go..." said Bonnie

Kenny got up anyway and chased after her

"Clementine, wait..." Kenny grabbed her by the arm

Clem shook him off, "It's not fair..."

"I know it ain't, Clem...but we gotta work through this."

"Why?" said Clem, "What does it matter?"

"Because if we don't stay strong, just think about what'll happen to little AJ? This baby needs us."

"Nobody cares about the baby, Kenny," said Clem, "Nobody is going to thank us or repay us for our good deeds, because nobody _cares."_

Kenny glared at her, "How can you say that? I could slap you right now! Lee taught you better than that! What do you think he'd say if he heard what you're saying right now?"

"Well he's not. Lee is dead!"

"That doesn't mean you get to just trample all over his memory! I won't let you!"

"If he was so important, why did he die?"

"He died following his belief! We need to be the best of humanity, that's what he believed! It's not enough to survive, you need to make the world a better place!"

"WELL THE WORLD DOESN'T CARE!" she shouted, drawing all the heads from the campfire, "It doesn't care about any it! You and him, you went on about being examples! Being some sort of beacon of hope! But the world doesn't care what you do for it! It doesn't care how good you are!" her vision began to blur as the words came out, "The world didn't care that Lee was the most wonderful person on it! All Lee did he did for other people, he was everything a person should be, but the world didn't care!"

"Any world that would let someone like him die isn't worth saving."

Kenny stared at her, dumbfounded. Unbelieving of what he just heard, "What the hell happened to you...what happened to Lee's little girl?"

Clem stared back, tears threatening to come out at any moment but never quite coming through, "She grew up."

He didn't stop her again when she walked limply toward the fence.


	14. Ice

The Russians' Shelter, 1 day, 19 hours and 10 minuets after Carver's Death  


It was chaos as they entered the run-down shelter

Kenny violently opened the door as he barged through, "How the fuck did that happen!" The rest followed inside, one-by-one

"Jesus Christ..." Mike exclaimed, stealing a glance at Clem then back at the ground

Jane shook her head, "I'll look for something to start a fire." she quickly went into the next room

Clem sat down on a bench, trying her best to look distraught. Though, the best she could really manage was looking down with a sad look on her face. _I need to work on my acting._

Her reaction seemed especially inadequate compared to Mike's, "Luke and Bonnie...they're just gone! Jesus..."

She looked up and saw Natasha glaring at her, "What are you looking at?"

Natasha spit at Clem

"You little bitch! This is your fault!" Kenny shouted at Natasha

"Kenny, lay off!" Mike shouted at him

"No! If she hadn't run, none of this would have happened!"

"It wasn't her, it was..." For a second, Clem was worried she hadn't done enough on the ice, but luckily Mike stopped himself, "It was...it wasn't anybody's fault!"

"Unsure? Because your little friend turned out to be a shitbird after all?"

"She's just scared!"

_She doesn't look scared to me. _Throughout the entire shouting match, Natasha's eyes never moved from Clem's

Kenny looked around, "Look at this place. Just a stack of toothpicks!" He glared at Natasha "Bet your magical supplies are made up, too!"

Natasha kept looking at Clem, "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Kenny smacked her across the face. Hard.

Natasha's attention, finally, turned to Kenny. "Fuck. You."

_Great, now can we kill her?_

"You piece of shit!" shouted Kenny, pushing her to the ground

Mike pushed his way inbetween them, "That's enough!"

"Get out of my way!"

"Mike, she lost and we won. How do you think this is going to end? Did you _ever_ think about how this would end?" said Clementine

Mike looked at her, "We can't just-"

Finally, Jane came back with a huge bag. She looked at them, a sort of "what have I walked into" look on her face.

"Will everyone calm down!" she threw the bag in front of them all, "It's stuffed with food, and there's another just like it. She wasn't lying."

She moved to the fireplace and started trying to strike a match, while Kenny bent down and picked up one of the cans.

"You wanna tell me how a can of chili is going to help us?"

"How is fighting each other going to help _anyone?" _she retorted

Kenny shook his head angrily, then looked at Natasha, "I'm tying her up."

"Fine," said Jane, she turned back to the fireplace as Kenny pushed Natasha to the corner, "You wanna help, Mike?"

Mike kept looking at Natasha, "I think she's bruised.."

"Mike!"

Mike shook his head, "Yea, sure." He knelt by the fireplace beside her, "You got a light?"

Jane checked her shirt pockets, "I...thought I had matches."

Clem got up from her bench and knelt next to them, pulling out the nail file.

Jane looked at her, smiling, "You kept it."

Clem nodded and handed it over to her. Within a few seconds, Jane got a fire going.

The Russians' Shelter, 1 day and 23 hours after Carver's Death 

Clem must have fallen asleep while sitting by the fire, because she woke up a few hours later. The sun was just starting to descend from the sky.

First thing she saw was Mike sitting next to Natasha. They were talking about something she didn't bother listening in on. _Don't get to comfortable with her, Mike._

"You're up."

Clem inclined her head slightly upward and saw Jane looking down at her, holding one of the cans. Beside her, AJ slept in a little box.

"Kenny's out back trying to get some stupid truck started," said Jane, as Clem got up and sat on the bench next to her. Jane handed the can to her, "Here, you should eat something."

As Clem took the can, she saw Mike taking a look at Natasha's cheek, bruised from Kenny's slap. _When the time comes, he'll probably turn against us. Might be for the best.  
_

Clem looked down at her can and started eating, trying real hard to not think about _what _it was or how long it'd been in there.

Jane looked at the ground mournfully, "I can't believe he's gone..." _Luke. _"I've...lost people before. It just hasn't felt this bad in awhile." _You're going to mourn him?_

_Of course she's going to mourn him. She's still human._

_...I think I really hurt her...she'll get over it. She has plenty of time._

"We're going to have to move on." said Clem, trying as hard as she could to not sound like an asshole

"I know," said Jane, covering her face with her hands.

Jane sighed deeply, "I shouldn't have come back. I knew this would happen..."

"Well, _I'm _glad you did." said Clem. That made Jane smile.

She saw Mike get up, "I'll go get you something to eat."

"Thank you..." said Natasha, gratefully.

Mike left, muttering a complaint about their situation. Kenny entered as he left, "Everything ok?"

"Yea." said Clem

Kenny looked aside, "Hell of a day...but we gotta get moving. If you're feeling up to it, mind helping me out-back with the truck? It ain't in bad shape, I think we could get it running."

"Yeah, sure." said Clem

"I'll wait out back." said Kenny, taking his leave

Clem moved to follow, but Jane spoke up.

"Clem," she looked back at Jane, "Just...be careful."

"I'll be right out back, don't worry." said Clem

Behind the Russians' Shelter, 1 day, 23 hours and 7 minuets after Carver's Death

The cold wind hit Clem like a punch in the face as she stepped outside. Kenny stood just a few paces in front of her, looking at the red truck with his arms crossed.

Together, they walked toward it, "What did she have to say?" he asked

"Don't worry, Kenny. It wasn't about you."

"Really?"

"Really."

Kenny sighed, "I know people are sore about that fight, but what happened happened. Right now, we need to make sure we get AJ to Wellington safe and sound. Assuming you _care _now."

_I don't. _"I do. I'm...sorry about what I said at the electric plant. I was emotional."

"It's ok. Let's just get this truck running," he handed her the keys, "Give it a turn."

Clem opened the door and climbed into the driver's seat while Kenny opened up the hood. "My daddy always had a half-dozen wrecks he was fixen up. He was a mean son'a bitch. But he taught me respect, girl like Jane could learn a thing or two."

_Never take sides. _"She's just tired, Kenny. Everyone's tired." _That should do._ _Not saying she's ok, but not condemning her either._

Kenny shook his head, "Hell, I've been tired for two years..."

He did some stuff under the hood, then looked up "Alright, give her a turn."

She did just that. They got one click, then nothing.

Kenny shook his head again, "We're so close, Clem. With a little bit of luck, we can drive out on the open road and make some real distance!" he looked out at the treeline, "Wellington's gotta be out there. Those rumors can't _all _be bunk."

He did some more things under the hood, then looked up. "Alright, turn it again."

She did, this time it didn't even make the click.

"Did you turn it, yet?"

"Yes."

"God dammit!" said Kenny, kicking the truck and turning angrily to the trees

"Don't worry, we can fix it. We'll get it working eventually." This really wasn't the time for him to go on another angry rant.

Kenny looked down, "We gotta get on the road if we wanna keep AJ alive. We're running out of time and we need to get this thing to start!" he turned back to the car

_Well, if he's going to be angry he might as well turn that to work. Better than the alternative..._

"I'm goanna try warming up the battery. This'll take awhile, so you might as well go inside. I don't like leaving AJ with that girl."

"Jane or Natasha?"

"Both."


	15. Tension

The Russians' Shelter, 1 day, 19 hours and 10 minuets after Carver's Death  


It was chaos as they entered the run-down shelter

Kenny violently opened the door as he barged through, "How the fuck did that happen!" The rest followed inside, one-by-one

"Jesus Christ..." Mike exclaimed, stealing a glance at Clem then back at the ground

Jane shook her head, "I'll look for something to start a fire." she quickly went into the next room

Clem sat down on a bench, trying her best to look distraught. Though, the best she could really manage was looking down with a sad look on her face. _I need to work on my acting._

Her reaction seemed especially inadequate compared to Mike's, "Luke and Bonnie...they're just gone! Jesus..."

She looked up and saw Natasha glaring at her, "What are you looking at?"

Natasha spit in Clem's direction

"You little bitch! This is your fault!" Kenny shouted at Natasha

"Kenny, lay off!" Mike shouted at him

"No! If she hadn't run, none of this would have happened!"

"It wasn't her, it was..." For a second, Clem was worried she hadn't done enough on the ice, but luckily Mike stopped himself, "It was...it wasn't anybody's fault!"

"Unsure? Because your little friend turned out to be a shitbird after all?"

"She's just scared!"

_She doesn't look scared to me. _Throughout the entire shouting match, Natasha's eyes never moved from Clem's

Kenny looked around, "Look at this place. Just a stack of toothpicks!" He glared at Natasha "Bet your magical supplies are made up, too!"

Natasha kept looking at Clem, "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Kenny smacked her across the face. Hard.

Natasha's attention, finally, turned to Kenny. "Fuck. You."

_Great, now can we kill her?_

"You piece of shit!" shouted Kenny, pushing her to the ground

Mike pushed his way inbetween them, "That's enough!"

"Get out of my way!"

"Mike, she lost and we won. How do you think this is going to end? Did you _ever_ think about how this would end?" said Clementine

Mike looked at her, "We can't just-"

Finally, Jane came back with a huge bag. She looked at them, a sort of "what have I walked into" look on her face.

"Will everyone calm down!" she threw the bag in front of them all, "It's stuffed with food, and there's another just like it. She wasn't lying."

She moved to the fireplace and started trying to strike a match, while Kenny bent down and picked up one of the cans.

"You wanna tell me how a can of chili is going to help us?"

"How is fighting each other going to help _anyone?" _she retorted

Kenny shook his head angrily, then looked at Natasha, "I'm tying her up."

"Fine," said Jane, she turned back to the fireplace as Kenny pushed Natasha to the corner, "You wanna help, Mike?"

Mike kept looking at Natasha, "I think she's bruised.."

"Mike!"

Mike shook his head, "Yea, sure." He knelt by the fireplace beside her, "You got a light?"

Jane checked her shirt pockets, "I...thought I had matches."

Clem got up from her bench and knelt next to them, pulling out the nail file.

Jane looked at her, smiling, "You kept it."

Clem nodded and handed it over to her. Within a few seconds, Jane got a fire going.

The Russians' Shelter, 1 day and 23 hours after Carver's Death 

Clem must have fallen asleep while sitting by the fire, because she woke up a few hours later. The sun was just starting to descend from the sky.

First thing she saw was Mike sitting next to Natasha. They were talking about something she didn't bother listening in on. _Don't get to comfortable with her, Mike._

"You're up."

Clem inclined her head slightly upward and saw Jane looking down at her, holding one of the cans. Beside her, AJ slept in a little box.

"Kenny's out back trying to get some stupid truck started," said Jane, as Clem got up and sat on the bench next to her. Jane handed the can to her, "Here, you should eat something."

As Clem took the can, she saw Mike taking a look at Natasha's cheek, bruised from Kenny's slap. _When the time comes, he'll probably turn against us. Might be for the best.  
_

Clem looked down at her can and started eating, trying real hard to not think about _what _it was or how long it'd been in there.

Jane looked at the ground mournfully, "I can't believe he's gone..." _Luke. _"I've...lost people before. It just hasn't felt this bad in awhile." _You're going to mourn him?_

_Of course she's going to mourn him. She's still human._

_...I think I really hurt her...she'll get over it. She has plenty of time._

"We're going to have to move on." said Clem, trying as hard as she could to not sound like an asshole

"I know," said Jane, covering her face with her hands.

Jane sighed deeply, "I shouldn't have come back. I knew this would happen..."

"Well, _I'm _glad you did." said Clem. That made Jane smile.

She saw Mike get up, "I'll go get you something to eat."

"Thank you..." said Natasha, gratefully.

Mike left, muttering a complaint about their situation. Kenny entered as he left, "Everything ok?"

"Yea." said Clem

Kenny looked aside, "Hell of a day...but we gotta get moving. If you're feeling up to it, mind helping me out-back with the truck? It ain't in bad shape, I think we could get it running."

"Yeah, sure." said Clem

"I'll wait out back." said Kenny, taking his leave

Clem moved to follow, but Jane spoke up.

"Clem," she looked back at Jane, "Just...be careful."

"I'll be right out back, don't worry." said Clem

Behind the Russians' Shelter, 1 day, 23 hours and 7 minuets after Carver's Death

The cold wind hit Clem like a punch to the gut as she stepped outside. Kenny stood just a few paces in front of her, looking at the red truck with his arms crossed.

Together, they walked toward it, "What did she have to say?" he asked

"Don't worry, Kenny. It wasn't about you."

"Really?"

"Really."

Kenny sighed, "I know people are sore about that fight, but what happened happened. Right now, we need to make sure we get AJ to Wellington safe and sound. Assuming you _care _now."

_I don't. _"I do. I'm...sorry about what I said at the electric plant. I was emotional."

"It's ok. Let's just get this truck running," he handed her the keys, "Give it a turn."

Clem opened the door and climbed into the driver's seat while Kenny opened up the hood. "My daddy always had a half-dozen wrecks he was fixen up. He was a mean son'a bitch. But he taught me respect, girl like Jane could learn a thing or two."

_Never take sides. _"She's just tired, Kenny. Everyone's tired." _That should do._ _Not saying she's ok, but not condemning her either._

Kenny shook his head, "Hell, I've been tired for two years..."

He did some stuff under the hood, then looked up "Alright, give her a turn."

She did just that. They got one click, then nothing.

Kenny shook his head again, "We're so close, Clem. With a little bit of luck, we can drive out on the open road and make some real distance!" he looked out at the treeline, "Wellington's gotta be out there. Those rumors can't _all _be bunk."

He did some more things under the hood, then looked up. "Alright, turn it again."

She did, this time it didn't even make the click.

"Did you turn it, yet?"

"Yes."

"God dammit!" said Kenny, kicking the truck and turning angrily to the trees

"Don't worry, we can fix it. We'll get it working eventually." This really wasn't the time for him to go on another angry rant.

Kenny looked down, "We gotta get on the road if we wanna keep AJ alive. We're running out of time and we need to get this thing to start!" he turned back to the car

_Well, if he's going to be angry he might as well turn that to work. Better than the alternative..._

"I'm goanna try warming up the battery. This'll take awhile, so you might as well go inside. I don't like leaving AJ with that girl."

"Jane or Natasha?"

"Both."


	16. Betrayal

Russians' Shelter, 1 day, 23 hours and 14 minuets after Carver's Death

She heard the baby stirring the second she entered.

As she walked further into the room she saw AJ's little box with Jane sitting next to it, looking out the window.

Jane turned to her, "Hey," Clem sat down next to her, "Mike and Natasha wouldn't shut up so I moved him in here. They've been getting real comfy, lately."

_"God Dammit!" _they heard Kenny kick the truck, again.

Jane sighed, "Seen that look, before."

"I have too, a few times."

"Then you know what's about to happen."

_Don't pick sides._

"I know Kenny was a nice guy, Clem," said Jane, "But Carver was a nice guy too, once."

Clementine's head snapped toward Jane

"He probably had a nice job, a nice pretty wife; but then all this happened. One day he realized he could cave some kid's face in and sleep at night."

Jane looked at Clem, "I'm sorry...I shouldn't be talking about Carver after everything...he got to you more than any of us."

"I'll be fine." said Clem, looking back out the window

"Clem...don't take this the wrong way, but you're not. You're a tough kid, and smart, but at the end of the day you're still eleven years old. After everything that's happened, like at the electric plant..."

"That was _nothing!" _Clem snapped at her

"It was definitely something," said Jane, keeping her calm and reassuring tone, "I'm not criticizing you. If you _were _alright, you'd be a sociopath. But you still need some sort of anchor or a safety net."

"You've been talking to Mike, haven't you."

"What? No, I've just been noticing..."

"Well stop it!" she shouted, and the baby started crying, "He needs food."

Clem got up and picked AJ out of the box. As she walked away, Jane grabbed hold of her arm. "Please...just think about what I said."

_I'm fine. _Clem ripped her arm away, and left. _She doesn't know what she's talking about!_

She carried AJ into another room, the kitchen, and pulled out the baby's bottle. She put the bottle in his mouth and looked down at him as he fed.

"Haven't I always done whatever I could to keep people alive?"

_Except Luke and Bonnie, you killed them._

"That was different! Luke deserved to die! And Bonnie was the idiot who got herself trapped underneath the ice because she couldn't listen to directions!"

_And you were always so cruel to Sarah._

"She needed to grow up! I just wanted her to stay alive!"

_You killed Arvo. He was just a kid trying to survive, like you._

"He would have come after us! It was him or the group!"

_And then you were the one who threatened Mike to keep him quiet_

"I wouldn't actually shoot him! I just...needed to scare him."

_You would have shot him if Kenny and Jane weren't just on the other side. You still will, if he doesn't side with you when you try to kill Natasha  
_

"I'm doing it for you!"

_You watched a man die. You watched, and enjoyed every blow._

"You weren't there! How could you...you're just a baby! Why am I even talking to you?"

Just then, she heard an engine start outside. She looked out the nearest window and saw the car running.

"Finally, we can get moving."

She set the baby down on the kitchen table and ran outside.

"It works?" said Mike, as she approached.

"What'd I tell ya?" said Kenny, proud of himself

She saw Jane coming up behind her

"So what's the plan?" said Mike

"How much food do we have?" said Jane

"At least a week?" said Mike

"And for the baby?"

"We need to find a place for AJ." said Clem

"Yea, someplace warm." said Mike

"Agreed. We should head back south." said Jane

"What?" said Kenny, stepping out of the car

"We'll freeze to death up here. I don't know who's idea it was to come up here, but it was a bad one."

"She's right." said Mike

"We could go back to Howe's." said Jane

"Wait, what? Screw that, I was thinking about Texas."

"Texas? The hell?" said Kenny, getting angry.

"It was just a thought."

_This won't end well._

"We already talked about this!" Kenny shouted

"We did?"

"We're going to find Wellington, right Clem?" said Kenny, turning to her

_Don't take sides_

"Wellington?" said Jane, "Even if it's real, we'll freeze to death before we find it."

"We came this far, we can't turn back now!"

_Don't take sides_

"We don't have to leave right away. Let's just sleep on it..." said Clem

"Damn it, we don't have time!" said Kenny

"Says you." said Jane

"I don't give two shits what you people think. I got this truck working, so I say where we go. _North_ is the best chance we got at helping AJ."

A pause.

"What about Natasha?" said Mike

"What, your girlfriend? She ain't coming." said Kenny

"She should already be dead. She's still a threat to us." said Clem

"Clementine," said Jane, "Please...think really hard about what you're saying."

"She knows the area, she can help us..." said Mike

"We all know what kinda help she's been to _you_." Accused Kenny

"Either way, I'm not going anywhere in the middle of the night." said Jane

"Yea, me neither." said Mike

"You want that child's blood on your hands, Mike?" said Kenny

"We're all going to die if you don't calm down!"

"Jesus fucking Christ," said Kenny, "Clem, remember the last time we had a working car and just sat around on our asses?"

"Quit trying to use nostalgia on her," said Jane "I'm heading inside."

Jane walked away.

Kenny glared at her, then went into the truck. Slamming the door shut.

Mike glared at him, then walked away.

Before leaving however, he turned back to Clem, "Talk some sense into him or...I'll tell! I will!" he said uncertainly, then went inside

_He won't. _She looked back at Kenny _But I should probably do as he asks anyway. We can't keep fighting each other._

She walked up to the passenger side of the car. As she approached, she saw Kenny swearing to himself while checking out his busted eye in the rear-view mirror

She opened the door and, without looking, he waved a hand at her. "Get out of here!"

"It's me." said Clem

Kenny looked at her, "Clem...sorry, thought you were...just give me a second..." then back at the rear-view mirror.

He finished what he was doing, "Close the door."

Clem climbed into the passenger seat.

"Can you believe this Clem? I bring them a working truck, and they act like I just shit in their cereal! I mean, I knew Jane would have doubts, but Mike...he's turning out to be a real disappointment..."

_Don't take sides_

"Why _can't _we just leave tomorrow?"

Kenny looked down, "Look, we got maybe a day's worth of food for that kid left. That's it. Just think about Rebecca and Alvin. And Lee, what would have happened if he hadn't gone tearing through half of Georgia looking for you?"

"He'd still be alive."

"Stop saying stuff like that. He sacrificed a lot for you. That means something!" He sighed, and rested his elbow on the car door. "I wish Lee was here. He'd know what to do. What do you think he'd say?"

"To keep people working together...and to keep my hair short."

Kenny smiled at that last bit, "We need to do what we can to keep that baby going, otherwise what's the point of going on? That's what people like Lee knew. We gotta make the world better."

_He still doesn't get it._

"Look," said Kenny, "I know Wellington might be bullshit, but where there's smoke there's fire. Christa heard about it too, right? Mathew and Walter saw tons of people looking for it! I'm counting on you to help me with this."

_Don't take sides. Just look after yourself._

"Whatever we do, we can't do it alone."

"That's why I need you to be with me! None of them are going to listen to me, but you might be able to convince them!"

_Your eyes are shut tightly if you think I have any sway over them_

"Look, we'll figure it all out in the morning. Just get some rest." said Kenny, leaving the truck

Russians' Shelter, 2 days and 3 hours after Carver's Death

_Someone's moving.  
_

She was woken up when she heard footsteps moving around the place. At first she was just annoyed with whoever woke her up, not suspicious, but then she heard a door open and shut with the care of someone trying to sneak out.

She got up and pulled out her gun.

She started moving toward the door, and saw shadows of people moving around outside. _Living, __and trying hard to not be seen._

She opened and closed the door as quietly as she could, looking around as she did it. She saw, by the truck, Mike and Natasha.

They had the door open, and Natasha was looking around inside. _They're leaving, and taking the truck with them._

She observed them more closely, and saw Mike was holding their bags of food. _That's everything we have!_

Gun ready, she aimed at them.

"Don't move!

The second she made her presence known, Natasha pulled out a rifle and aimed it at her. _Natasha is the dangerous one, take her out first.__  
_

Mike seemed to be trying a more diplomatic route, "Easy...easy now..." he said, making small steps toward her.

"Step back!"

Mike looked down, "Shit..."

"What are you doing?" said Clem

"We're just leaving..."

Clem looked at the bag, "No, you're taking everything we have! We'll die without it!"

Mike looked at the bag, "Listen...we just gotta get away from that guy..."

"Then leave, but don't take our only chance of surviving!"

Mike looked down again, "Just...dammit, we don't have time for this!"

Mike put the bag down and started inching toward her, "Alright Clem...I'm just goanna walk up to you nice and slow..."

"You might as well run," said Clem, calmly, "I'll still shoot you if you get too close."

_Can't do anything with Natasha trained on me. _Her gaze went back and forth between them. _But, if I use Mike to my advantage..._

Clem adjusted her angle, so that Mike was between her and Natasha.

"Clem...we're not going to hurt you..." he said, continuing to get closer.

Clem grinned at him, "I know."

She shot him in the gut, making him double over and fall to the ground

"NYET!" Natasha shouted, pausing just long enough for Clem to shoot her. Natasha fell against the car, then slid to the ground.

Clem looked at them. Mike laid on the ground, working for each breath, while Natasha lay still on the ground, clutching her stolen rifle.

Clem walked over to Mike, and aimed the gun at his head.

Mike looked up at her, he coughed up blood, "Bo...Bonnie was right about you...you're nothing but a...but a..."

"Mike," interrupted Clementine, "You talk too much."

**_Bang_**

Clementine looked at her gun, still unfired, and wondered where that shot came from. She stood there, bewildered, then felt a strange sensation in her chest. She looked down, and saw blood seeping through her jacket.

_I've been shot..._

She didn't feel it until after she saw. Then, it seemed, all the pain came rushing at once. _I've been shot..._ She fell back a few steps, then collapsed to the ground

_I'VE BEEN SHOT!_

She lied there, clutching the hole in her chest, and staring strait up. Then, Natasha came into view, clutching a bullet wound in her gut. She glared down at her.

"Arvo died...in so much pain...I had to hold him as the life drained from his body, and put him out of his misery," she aimed the rifle at her, "No one will hold you, Clementine!"

**_Bang_**


	17. Ghosts

Somewhere Else...

"Clem...Clementine."

_Lee!_

Clementine woke up in an RV. She sat up quickly, and looked around.

_Not just any RV..._the_ RV_

All around her she saw familiar faces. Ben, sitting sadly in the back. Kenny, Katja and Duck in the driver's area. Duck was bitten, and lying in Katja's lap.

_It's all back to the way it was..._

And right in front of her, she saw him

"Lee...?"

He looked at her with that fatherly concern he always showed her, "It's just a bad dream, sweat pea."

Clementine looked down, a million different thoughts racing through her mind

"What was it about?" he said, "Duck?"

Clem looked at Duck, "He's...bit."

"We don't know how this works, yet," said Lee, "Maybe it's like a cold."

Clem looked down, again, "He's going to die..._you're _going to die..."

Lee sighed, but said nothing. "You don't know that..."

"I do..."

They sat there for awhile

"...Lee?"

"Yea?"

"Why did Lily kill Carley?"

Lee looked down, "I don't know...she was sad, Clem. That can make people angry sometimes."

"That's a dumb reason."

"Yea...it is, but people don't always make sense."

"How come?"

"Cause bad things happen to everyone," said Lee, "And it's hard to keep being yourself when they do. Do you think we should have let Lily stay?"

"I think we should have killed her."

Lee looked at her, sad. "Revenge has never worked. Not for anyone. And it definitely isn't working for you."

"But if someone deserves to die, shouldn't we kill them?"

"It ain't like math, Clem. It's just not that simple. There's no such thing as an evil person, Clementine, just people who do evil things because they've been hurt in ways we can't understand."

"But...if they're going to hurt us, shouldn't we defend ourselves?"

"Of course," said Lee, "Part of growing up is protecting the people we care about, even if sometimes, we have to hurt someone else. The other part is knowing when to stay our hand, even if we really want to strike."

Clem looked at her own hands, "I...I never wanted to hurt anyone..."

"I know...it hasn't been easy for you. You've done the best you could, but you've been letting yourself get twisted. Life is always goanna be hard, but we can't let it lead us astray, or it's all over. The world needs people willing to save it, even though it won't ever thank us for doing so."

Clem looked up at him, "But...it let you die."

"I know...and you need to learn to forgive it."

"I can't, I...I just want...I just want things to be better...I want to stop hurting people...I don't want to be evil anymore."

"You're not evil, Clem. You're a human being."

"But I've hurt so many people..."

"Don't focus on that. Focus on the good you've done, and the good you can still do. It'll keep you going longer than hatred and regret ever will."

"The good I can do? So...I'm not dead..."

"Don't sound so disappointed, sweet pea, there's still work to do."

Clem hugged tightly onto Lee, "I don't want to go back! I want to stay here with you!"

Lee embraced her, "I know, what can I say that'll make it better?"

"Just...promise me...promise me everything will be alright!"

"It'll be alright, Clem. In the end, everything is always as it should be."

On The Road, 2 days and 19 hours after Carver's Death

When her mind finally came back into consciousness, 22 hours had passed.

She found herself in the truck, moving, and was slowly becoming aware of her surroundings. Kenny and Jane were sitting up front, yelling about something.

Jane looked back at her, "She's awake!"

Clem forced herself to sit up. She looked down at the hole in her shoulder and placed her hand on it. The resulting pain told her; this was real.

Jane looked at her well-being without surprise, as if she was always confident she would survive. Kenny thanked the Lord.

"What happened?" said Clem, trying to get her bearings

"That bitch was about to shoot you, luckily_ I_ shot first." said Kenny

"We came rushing as soon as we heard gunfire," said Jane, "Natasha died from Kenny's shot, Mike died a few minuets afterward from yours. We packed you into the truck and started running it to keep you warm. How do you feel?"

Clem held onto her bullet wound again. _So this is what death feels like. _She shook her head. _No, not death. __Not that lucky. No, this is probably worse. _"It feels like someone dipped my shoulder in fire."

"Luckily the bullet went clean through. It'll burn awhile, but you'll be fine."

"Those sons of bitches," said Kenny, "I mean I expected it from the Russian, but Mike?"

"I didn't think they'd go that far." said Jane, remorsefully

"They're dead now, and didn't take our supplies. That's what matters, right?" said Clem

"I suppose it is," said Jane, "Now that Clem's awake we should talk about where we're going."

"We're heading north!" said Kenny in his matter-of-fact way

"To what? Wellington?" said Jane

"You sure talk a lot of shit! You got a better plan?"

"Yea, we head south. To Howe's."

"Carver's camp? What kind of plan is that?"

"I heard Bonnie say there was more baby formula back there, and we know where it is."

"And it was run over by a damn herd!"

"The walkers should be gone by now."

"It's miles in the other direction!"

Clem just sat in the back, silently. _Neither plan is good, and I can't think of one myself. I'll just let them fight it out and go with the winner._

"Look, even if there is some place up here, it will take us weeks to find it. We could be back at Howe's in a day."

"Tell you what," Said Kenny, "We can turn around just as soon as you pry this wheel from my cold, dead fingers."

Jane shrugged in frustration, "Whatever! I give up." she rested her feet on the dashboard.

Kenny slapped her foot down, "Get your feet off the dash."

"Let's play a game, Clem," said Jane, "I spy with my little eye, an asshole. Your turn." She said cutely

"Grow up."

"Go to hell."

_Ok, _this _is ridiculous. "_You're both being children."

"Me? I couldn't see the damn road!" said Kenny

"Bet you're having trouble seeing alot of things, lately." _Really, Jane? What will that solve?_

"You shut your mouth!" said Kenny, "I am done playing games with you, Jane."

"Screw you, you don't know a damn thing about me." said Jane

"Oh I know _exactly _what you are. Nothing." said Kenny, "Nobody cares about you, don't care about anybody. That makes you _nothing_." _And that will solve even less!_

"What is it with you? It's your family, right?"

_Don't_

"Don't-"

"It is, isn't it?

"Don't you talk about them!"

"You're just another one of those assholes trying to save some dead people."

_I need to get them to stop arguing with each other. _"Shut up! Both of you!"

"Stay out of this, Clem!" said Kenny

"Don't tell her what to do!"

"You listen to me!" said Kenny, "You mouth off about my family and I will _end _you!"

"Jesus Christ, I am sick of this wounded warrior crap! Just pull over, I can't take this!"

"What? Running away again? What a shocker!"

"And where were you when Serita got bit, Kenny? Huh? Where were you?"

"I was there!" said Kenny, "God damn it, I loved that woman!"

"Who could love you? Look at you, you can't take care of this kid! You can't even take care of yourself!"

_For Christ's sake, they aren't even trying to get their way! All they're doing is insulting the other for, I dunno, bragging rights!_

"This is crazy!" Clem shouted

"Ha, someone's crazy! And it ain't me!" said Jane, "You know what you are, Kenny? You're just a bomb waiting to go off. Everyone is against you because they're afraid of you!"

"That. Ain't. True!" said Kenny

"Mike, Bonnie, Sarita!"

"That ain't true!" he shouted again

"Everyone knows that if they stay with you, sooner or later they'll end up dead. I know it, Sarita knew it, and so does Clementine!"

They continued to shout insults at each other, and it all started to sound like white noise to Clementine. She was about to lie back and try to sleep some more, when suddenly she saw a barricade of cars ahead of up. Kenny barely stopped in time.

The truck did a 360 during the stop, and ended up sideways on the road. AJ started crying.

"You ok?" said Kenny, Clem couldn't say to who

"I'm fine." said Jane

"How's AJ?"

"He's fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"And you, Clem?"

"I'm alright," said Clem, moving her shoulder around to make sure it was still functioning.

They looked ahead at the barricade

"Just go around." said Jane

"Hold on," said Kenny, "One of them might have Diesel."

"We shouldn't stay still." said Jane

"We're running on fumes, we don't have much choice," said Kenny, opening his door, "I'll holler when it's ok. When I do, drive up closer." He looked around, and pointed at a blue sign that pointed towards a rest stop, "If anything happens, we'll meet there."

He closed the door and went on before anyone could say anything.

Clem moved up to the driver's seat.

"Asshole," said Jane, "God, I'm sick of being with him." She went on a 5-second rant.

Finally, she stopped talking. With nobody shouting, Clem was able to get the peace of mind to reflect on what happened while she was unconscious.

Jane noticed her melencholy, "What is it?"

Clem looked up, "Jane...do you believe in ghosts?"

Jane looked at her, and then down, "This'll probably sound crazy...but...every zombie child I see is Jamie. Every time...I always have the wits to just ignore it, but..." she shook her head, and turned to Clem, "Why do you ask?

"I just talked to Lee." said Clem, "While I was sleeping back there."

Jane looked down again, "Look...sometimes-"

Clem would never know what she was about to say, because she was cut off by a gunshot ahead of them. It was followed by a second one. And another.

_**A/N: Alright, next chapter is the finale.**__**Who will Clem choose to save? Will she take Lee's lessons to heart? Will she start caring about the stupid baby? Will we finally learn why Jane and Kenny didn't take the supplies from the house? (Probably not that last bit.) Find out in 4-5 days give-or take!**_


	18. A New Beginning

Middle of Nowhere, 2 days and 20 hours after Carver's Death

After the gunshots, they saw the shadows of zombies moving around in the snow.

"I thought the snow was supposed to stop them?" said Clementine

"They must not be cold enough yet." said Jane

The dead began moving toward the truck from multiple sides. With a swear, Jane reached for the car keys and turned the engine. "Get us out of here!"

"I don't know how to drive!" said Clem

"See that pedal on the floor? Step on it!"

Clem slammed onto it as hard as she could, and the car took off.

Within seconds, they hit a walker so fast it broke through the windshield. Clem could barely keep her eyes open with the wind rushing into her face, and lost what little control of the car she had. They spun out and off the road.

The truck was left completely immobile, and the zombie kept reaching out for them. Jane swiftly opened her door and carried AJ out

Clem tried opening her door, but it was blocked by the ground. She swiftly pulled out her gun and shot the zombie point-blank.

"There's more of them! Move!" Jane ran out of her vision, and she saw one slowly stumble after her. Clem climbed out of the truck.

Immediately after exiting the truck, she was pelted by snow and wind from all side; effectively reducing her line of sight to her nose.

She saw the shadow of Jane being chased by the shadows of two zombies, and called out to her. Jane either couldn't hear her or was too preoccupied to pay her any mind, because she kept going. Clem was about to go after her when she was tripped by a zombie. From under the car, he had grabbed her foot.

Gun already out, Clem was able to immediately look back and shoot it.

Free from its grasp, Clem stood up and tried to survey the area. A blizzard appeared to have started, and she couldn't see anything reliably outside of her arm's length.

"Jane?" She called out. Meeting only silence, she decided to try and find the rest stop like Kenny instructed.

The wind and snow seemed to fight her at every turn. She had to alternate between being safe and looking ahead, and shielding her face in frustration.

"Look how far you've come."

Clem looked up at the frighteningly familiar voice. "No..."

The all-too familiar figure stepped his way into her vision. He looked exactly as she remembered; brown jacket and all. He stood as confidently and menacingly as she remembered, seemingly unaffected by the cold

"Just look at where you started from. Hiding in a treehouse, so frightened, hoping against hope that things will go back to the way they used to be. Now look at you, not so frightened now. No, now you make everyone else scared instead."

She aimed her gun at him. "What are you doing here?"

He looked at her calmly, "Might want to save that for the next one." He stepped aside and she saw a zombie blocking her path. She shot it.

He looked at her, approval written on his face, "Look at that, no hesitation. You see a threat, and know it has to die; end of discussion."

Clem aimed at him, "What are you_ doing_ here?!" She asked again, with more agitation

"I'm just here to help you sort out some of these conflictions you're having. You're trying to figure out whether or not you should be punished for all you've done."

"You're wrong!" Clementine shot at him

He remained unfazed, "No, you're wrong. For ever doubting yourself." He looked at her, his expression turning more serious, "You must _never _doubt yourself. It's rare for someone to do as much evil as you for all the right reasons. Most people wouldn't understand, I understand perfectly."

"You couldn't, you're nothing but a sociopath! You never did _anything_ for the right reasons!"

He became more amused, "And tell me, where was the right in killing everyone in my camp? Women and children."

Clem looked down, "They would have been fine...we just used the herd as a distraction, it couldn't have gotten in..."

"You don't believe that. You're smart enough to know that no matter how strong the camp, it wouldn't survive being attacked from all sides by the living dead. All those innocents..."

She glared at him, "They weren't innocent."

He grinned, "You're probably right. You probably wiped a stain off the face of humanity. And you did it with no regret. Keeping your mind clear of the things that weaken lesser people like conscience and hesitation, that's key."

"No, we need to know when what we're doing is wrong. If we lose our humanity, then it's all over!"

"Will you feeling worthless make it easier to save people?"

"It'll make sure I stay human while doing it."

"No human can save the world. No human can lead the people out of this. You need to decide if your good conscience is worth more than the lives of countless innocents."

She aimed at him again, "It won't hurt my conscience to kill you."

He smiled, then turned his back to her. "Haven't you figured it out yet, Clementine? There's no one here."

She blinked, and he was gone.

When she looked ahead, she saw the shadow of the rest stop. She immediately sprinted towards it as fast as she could to get out of the cold.

She walked inside, gun still ready. "Jane?"

Looking around, she saw Kenny looking out a window.

"Kenny!"

He turned and walked towards her, "You alright?"

"Yea."

"Where is he? Where's the kid?"

"He's with Jane."

"You left him with her?!" he looked suddenly scared, like he was afraid Jane might eat AJ.

He ran out the building, calling for Jane

Clem looked out the other side, and saw her walking toward the rest stop. Alone.

_Where's AJ..._

"Wait..."

Kenny followed her gaze and saw her walking towards them, "Oh thank Christ..." he ran towards Jane

Kenny opened the door for her, "Jane, you ok? Where's the kid?"

Jane kept looking down, a solemn look on her face

Clem looked at her, "What happened..."

Jane looked at her, then back down. "He's..."

Kenny looked at her, fear and despair mixing on his face, "What are you saying..." he stepped back, shouting denials, before running the way she came from.

Jane took Clementine by the shoulders, "Clem, look at me. No matter what happens, stay out of it. Just trust me."

Clem looked at her, "What is he going to find?"

Jane looked back outside, "You have to trust me. You're going to see what he is."

They both looked outside, and saw Kenny marching toward them. A rage in his eyes. Jane took more than a few steps back.

"Is it true?" said Clementine

Kenny shoved her aside and kept going towards Jane

"How could you kill a fucking child?!" He punched at her, Jane ducked under it and pushed him

Jane took steps away from him, pulling out her knife and dropping into a defensive stance, "I didn't kill him! It was an accident, Kenny!"

"Bullshit!" he shouted back at her

Clem looked between them, "We can't kill each other! Not after everything that's happened!"

"Stay out of this, Clem!" said Kenny, eyes never leaving Jane

Jane put her knife back into its holster, "Don't come near me..."

_The action and the words don't match..._

Kenny rushed her as soon as the knife was away, pushing her against the window hard enough to crack it and pressing his arm against her throat

"Get...off!" Jane pushed at his face, knocking the eye-patch and hat off.

Kenny grabbed her arm and kept it down while he attempted to choke her with his other arm.

_Which one..._

Clem kept looking from Jane to Kenny. _I need to pick a side..._

Jane saved her from making the choice. She kneed Kenny's crotch, causing him to stumble back, then followed up with an elbow across the face.

She then pushed him, and mounted on top. She punched at his face, while he raised his arms to block. _I need to pick..._

Again, she was saved when Kenny pushed her off to the side. Clem took several steps from the conflict. Jane pulled out her knife while Kenny got up and lunged at her. Before he could connect, she slashed across his side. He stumbled outside, and Jane pursued. Clem soon followed.

Kenny turned to face Jane, and they stood ready to defend once the other attacked.

_I need to make them pause. Force them to think..._

Clem ran inbetween them.

Both seemed to acknowledge her presence, but deemed fighting the other more important. Jane pushed past her and slashed at Kenny. He dodged a few swings, then attempted to grab her arm. He overestimated his own balance, and they both fell over; knocking a fence down as they went.

The knife landed in front of Kenny, and he was about to reach for it when Jane grabbed his face and pressed her fingers into his eyes.

Kenny bit her thumb, and Jane pulled back her arm, giving him enough room to push her off all the way. He then grabbed the knife and stabbed it into her leg. Jane jumped back with enough force to knock Clem down. While falling, Clem's head fell on a piece of wood and her vision blurred for a moment.

When she looked up, she saw Kenny trying to stab Jane in the chest, who was using all her strength to push the knife away from her.

Clem looked to her side and saw her pistol, apparently having been knocked from its holster. She grabbed it and aimed at Kenny

_Whose side do I choose..._

_She let AJ die_

_He put all their lives in danger_

_She's smart_

_He's loyal_

_She's ruthless_

_He's hateful_

Clem had a sad realization

_Neither one is innocent_

With no side to favor, she let the fight reach it's natural conclusion. Kenny stabbed Jane in the heart, sinking the knife in as deep as it would go.

When the life fully drained from her, Kenny fell off and lied back. The adrenaline gone, he brought his hands to his face.

"AJ..."

Clem walked up to him, he looked up at her. "He's gone Clem...how could she do that...Jesus..."

_He's had enough..._

She aimed her gun right at his head. He looked at her, surprised at first...then sad.

"Do it...just do it."

_He's lived too long. Someone should have given him the mercy a long time ago._

She fired, and then she was alone.

Clementine stood there, motionless. Then, she finally realized that there was no one else. No one at all. She was truly alone.

Her arm went limp, the gun slipped out of her hand, and she fell on her knees. Finally, for the first time since she'd last given mercy to a friend, she cried.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" She screamed into the air, as loud as her voice would allow. "I don't...I don't want to be alone again! Please...don't leave me alone..."

The tears that had held back after all the tragedy and all the heartbreak now wouldn't stop. She covered her face. "Oh God...what have I done...I'm so sorry...all those people..."

"Rebecca...Luke...Arvo...Natasha...Bonnie...Mike...Sarah...Alvin...there's so many...I'm so sorry..."

She looked at the gun at her side, and reached out. Her hand gripped the weapon she was so familiar with, the weapon she lived by for over a year now. The weapon she had turned on so many, deserving and otherwise. Now, it turned on her.

"I'm so sorry..." She closed her eyes

And then heard the baby's cries. She opened them again, and looked toward the source.

She saw it, a rusty car with the broken window. From inside, she heard the cries of the newborn and ran towards it as fast as she could.

She reached inside and pulled him out. Responsibility overpowering all other feelings.

"AJ...it's going to be ok..." she held him close

_I can't die yet... _She realized, with sadness and determination. _There's still something I need to do..._

"You're going to be ok, AJ. I won't let you die...even if it means I have to stay here with you."

She picked up her new burden, and carried it south.

* * *

_**A/N: So, that's the end of that. Thanks for reading. I added that scene with phantom/imaginary Carver (btw for those of you who didn't figure it out, there was no one there) because while playing through that scene in game I felt like that would have been a great place for some sort of mental journey, but the devs probably didn't put one in because they had to account for every single person's playthrough. As I only have to worry about one, there was nothing stopping me. I also decided to leave out the encounter with the herd in the Alone ending because that would show Clem's cunning and resourcefulness when I wanted to leave off on her grim determination to protect a child. At this point, the only thing keeping Clementine from killing herself (in her belief that the afterlife will be way sweeter than the one she's currently in) is her responsibility of making sure AJ lives long enough to defend himself and make good choices. This may change in the next story; maybe she'll find love, maybe she'll start to enjoy picking flowers, I dunno. It completely depends on whether or not Season 3 continues Clem's story (what I'm hoping for, and not just so I can keep writing this.) For those of you who have been too shy to review up till now, review. Right now. Stop reading and review, I'll wait.  
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_**Done? Good. Keep looking out for Walking Dead: Season 3 (and if you have any pull, write a letter telling them to make it about Clem. Preferably a few years into the future) and I will probably continue this if Season 3 is good enough to make me feel like writing about it. I cannot say anything about the next installment of this story; when it will happen, what the tone will be, what it will be called, nothing. Not because I'm mean or secretive, but because I don't have a clue. All I DO know is that it will have to be after all 5 episodes come out (and it will only come out if the above mentioned requisites have been met). Until then, have nice lives.**_


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